BY TERRY FLYNN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NEWPORT -- Anna Mae Bennett watched the ground-breaking Monday for the Saratoga Place senior housing project with more than passing interest. "I'll try to relocate here when it's completed," she said. "I have relatives in this neighborhood. This location is terrific." Mrs. Bennett was one of a half-dozen seniors from the Two Rivers Senior Center on the city's west side who made the crosstown trip to watch government and private-sector officials break ground in a parking lot off Dayton Street.
Saratoga Place, to be constructed in two phases, will eventually have 96 apartments for the elderly. They will be moderately priced at $350 per month.
"Where I live now, we don't have banks and restaurants and other things near enough to walk to," Mrs. Bennett said. "But everything is close to this location."
The new apartments are in an area bordered by Saratoga, Eighth and Dayton streets. They are within walking distance of several banks, restaurants, dry cleaners and numerous shops.
The $4.7 million Saratoga Place project has been planned for three years, starting as a request from Newport city government to Brighton Center Inc., to build affordable housing for seniors in the downtown area.
Brighton Center Executive Director Bob Brewster said Monday that the Saratoga Place apartments represent the first new residential construction in downtown Newport in almost 50 years.
"We already have a waiting list of people who want to live here," Mr. Brewster said. The first phase, with 48 apartments and parking, should be completed in about a year.
"This is the first part of a master housing plan for the city," said Newport Mayor Tom Guidugli. "I thought about this some time ago when I thought about my own parents. This location places virtually all services within easy access of the seniors who will live there."
The first-phase apartments will be offered on a priority basis to 47 elderly residents in Newport Housing Authority units slated for demolition. All apartments will be eligible for Section 8 certificates.
Each apartment will be 600 square feet, with a single bedroom and walk-in closet, large bath, open kitchen - dining area, and living room. Five units will be restricted and accessible for disabled elderly people.
