Home damaged by tornado in Century approved for new build
Century residents Mark and Janet Ward who live in the Alger-Sullivan Historic District in Century will be the owners of a new home after the Century Council Monday night approved a recommendation by the Florida Historical Preservation Board to demolish a mobile home there now and replace it with a new home.
Town consultant Debbie Nickles told the council the recommendation came from a meeting with the historical board on Wednesday, March 21 to review the site plans for 581 Church Street in Century. There are currently two older mobile homes there in the shape of an 'L' and one was heavily damaged in the Feb. 2016 tornado.
Nickles said the house will be built with town of Century Emergency Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) set-aside funds. These CDBG funds were received by the town for tornado victims.
Other houses in the area, some funded by State Housing Initiative Partnership (SHIP) funds, have been built by volunteers and Habitat for Humanity efforts and some general contractors bids. Nickles said this house on Church Street will be put out to bid for general contractors.
The Wards had some damage after the tornado, but felt lucky to have a place to sleep when others didn't have a house anymore. Home owner Mark Ward said the damage was the kind that will worsen as time passes and it was not visible initially but later will cause rot and structural damage.
“It makes me feel like you can't out give God,” said Ward. “It's a blessing. It's a wonderful thing. We never deserve the blessings God gives us but he still gives us many blessings. God's always got something in mind for you. We've never had a brand new house. We are so thankful for it. I was shocked to be able to get it. There's other people who needed it worse than we did, right after the storm. But Debbie put us on the list and here we are two years later.”
In a motion made by Councilman Ben Boutwell and seconded by Councilman Luis Gomez, the council voted and the motion carried.
In other business, Nickles said that a meeting to review a draft of the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) redevelopment plan, the third of four meetings, will be at 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 17, at the Century Business Center in Building 2. The fourth and final meeting will be at 5:30 p.m., Thursday, May 24, at the Century Business Center in Building 2. Century residents are encouraged to attend both meetings.
Mayor's report
Mayor Henry Hawkins reminded the council that Saw Mill Day and ReImagine Century will both be Saturday, May 5 and the town has asked Escambia River Electric Cooperative (EREC) to supply a shuttle to pass between the two events. A pre-Imagine Century meeting will take place at 7 p.m., Friday, April 20, at Century Community Center.
At 2 p.m., Saturday, April 21, a new historic marker will be unveiled at the corner of Front Street and Jefferson Avenue that tells about the history of the Alger-Sullivan Lumber Mill and Historic District in Century. Alger-Sullivan Historical Society member Russell Brown approached the Century council in 2017 about placing the marker and requested the town be designated as trustee in charge of maintaining it as well as the area around it since it was on the town's right-of-way. The public is invited to attend.
The National Day of Prayer will be observed at 7 p.m., Thursday, May 3, at the Century Community Center and the public is invited to attend.
The next Century council meeting will be at 7 p.m., Monday, April 16, at Century Town Hall.
