The city of Lewiston has been awarded $3.4 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, most of which will be used to help the city continue its efforts to make homes lead safe.
Lincoln Jeffers, Lewiston’s director of economic and community development, says the city has just under 6,000 units in the heart of downtown that he describes as classic tenement housing from the early 1900’s. The units were built as the mills were being developed.
“When those were built lead paint was ubiquitous, it was used everywhere both on the interior and exteriors. So that’s where the money is really targeted, and it is also targeted to housing that houses our lower-income population,” he says. “Lewiston has performed very well, which is one of the reasons I believe we continue to get the lead funding. They give us the dollars, we are efficient in the use of it and consistently beat promises we make in the grant applications as to how many units we’ll do.”
Jeffers says this latest grant will address lead hazards in 220 or more housing units.
He says $400,000 of the HUD funding is for the city’s green and healthy homes initiative, which deals with issues such as mold, mildew and pests.