SAN ANTONIO — In an ironic but joyous development after five years of dedicated advocacy, the site of a former family funeral home is springing back to life in the heart of west San Antonio.
A one-acre parcel that was once home to the Memorial Funeral Home on El Paso Street is being transformed into a brand new affordable housing venture that 30 families will soon call home.
In a nod to the site's rich history, the name of the project is Memorial Apartments. Leaders with San Antonio Alternative Housing Corporation say the cooperation and guidance of its former owners, the Zamarripa family, was a key component in helping to realize the dream of safe, dignified housing.
Keith Newcom, the executive director of the group, has overseen an effort to save the family's home, which occupied the space for more than 100 years.
"We did research and we were able to peg (that) 1910 was the original construction date, which makes it even more important that we preserve this valuable asset," Newcomb said. "With the support of the community, we want to preserve the house instead of demolish it. It's a much more expensive task but it's what the desires of the community are."
The mission of the group, which has been building homes and multi-family projects for years, is to serve and work within the community, Newcomb said.
Describing the history of the strong-boned home, Newcomb said that "multiple generations occupied the home and it was adjacent to the funeral home." On Wednesday it was carefully moved to its new home seven-tenths of a mile away along Chihuahua Street, gingerly avoiding power lines and anxious drivers.
The complicated move, which was accomplished by an energetic crew, was supervised by third and fourth generation members of the Dodson family of Dodson House Movers.
Less than 1,000 feet from the Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine, the site has been an important community asset.
Patti Radle, who has been a passionate advocate for the area and its people for decades, said this is the right project at the right time.
"It was the funeral home that will now be a community center and it's going to have a playscape for the children," Radle said, adding other important services for families will be available on site.
"It's going to be 30 homes for people in this community who are mostly of lower income," she added. "We are looking to build housing that is in harmony with the kind of culture that is here. We're not looking for high-rise apartments. We have been very much a family community."
Radle said projects like this are desperately needed.
"The city needs to make a bigger commitment to helping people build on a smaller scale, with a lot of dignity and a lot of affordability."
Radle's husband, Rod, who led the group for years, said this will be an important asset for people who work downtown and need to live nearby.
"This will be self-sustaining," he said. "The idea is to have a stable community that's not just people coming and going, but making homes."
Explaining how the financing will help the area's most needy, Rod said "the difference here is we have half of the units are designated for 30 and 50% affordable units, that's of medium income."
Rod said families should not be paying more than 30% of their income for housing, adding that input from locals has been a vital component of the project.
''The community was real strong when we were doing our initial assessment five years ago. It's been a five-year project until now, just to get it out of the ground," he added.
With regard to the 114-year-old home that moved to a new location off Chihuahua, Rod said they are hoping to get the rest of the restoration work done in time for its new residents to celebrate Thanksgiving there in two months' time.
Developing the rest of the new apartment units will take a bit longer, he said, but site work is already well underway to meet financial deadlines.
More information about the group's other projects can be found here.