Astoria to help with Merwyn canopy
Apr. 13—Astoria plans to repurpose a historic preservation grant to help install a canopy at the entrance to the Merwyn Apartments next to City Hall.
Innovative Housing is in the finishing stages of renovating the historic hotel building, known as the Waldorf Hotel and the Merwyn, creating an additional 40 units of workforce housing.
The renovation project included optional elements, such as a re-creation of the canopy that covered the front entrance on Duane Street.
During a recent tour of the building, City Manager Brett Estes said, city officials heard Innovative Housing might not have enough money for the canopy.
The main renovation included several optional projects, including adding a kitchenette downstairs and restoring some of the building's rear windows. Julie Garver, the housing development director, said her group is fundraising around $24,000 to install the canopy.
Astoria received a $5,735 grant in 2019 for Rosemary Johnson, a planning consultant, to input historic property data into the geographical information system. The city has to spend the grant on the project by July.
But Johnson has been filling in her previous role as city planner for Barbara Fryer since last year and helping with a surge of development projects and code amendments.
"There's not going to be time ... on Rosemary's availability to wrap up that project by the end of the grant cycle," Estes said.
City councilors unanimously supported the idea, praising Innovating Housing for creating more affordable units.
"Innovative Housing has created 36 affordable housing units for service industry workers or others well below the median income for the county," City Councilor Joan Herman said. "So I think this would be a nice gesture."
