The Wilmington morning star., 1940-02-11
1910 To See 462 Families
Move Into Homes Pro-
vided By HACOW
BY H. r. EMORY
Executive Director, Housing Author
ifv of the City Of Wilmington

Executive Director, Housing Author
ity Of the City Of Wilmington
The next two or three months VIII
zee the beginning Of the march OF
.e2 low.income families in Whining
ton from ehackg and shotgun houses
into modern, sanitary and flrrprool
dwellings. -
And the rents these families Will
pay in their new and galuorious sur'
roundings will be no higher, on the
average, than they 0 pay. The
comforts and convenienceE they viii
enjoy are almost incapable Of COM
pariEon with the conditions In which
they nov live.
This transition in the lives OF
some 1900 Wilmington people viii
take place under the program OF
the Housing Authority Of the City
OF Wilmington. The Authority's two
projects, Charles T. Nesbitt ourts.
for 21s white families, and New
Brooklyn Homes, for 24s negro fam
lilies, are under construction. The
New Brooklyn Homes are more than
50 per cent complete, and it Is ex-
pectsd that the first families Will
be moved from su~bgtandard dwell.
ings into the new buildings by not
later than May. By next December,
tie migration from Equalor to de-
cency will have been completed.
NO FRILLS
What things previously denied to
them will these 4s2 families enjoy?
First, they win live in safe and
warm buildings. They will have
shelter in the best sense Of the word.
The buildings will not be elaborate.
Extensive pains have been taken TO
prevent the incorporation Of frills
into the structures. But they Will
contain ali the essentials that should
90 into making up q sound dwelling
building, walls and floors and cell
ingg and roofs that are solidly built,
usually Of masonry for long life and
low maintenance costs. There will
be electric lighting and electric re-
f~rigeration. There will be gas cook
ing. There will be modern plumbing,
AMI steam heating, Of which more
IL be said later.
Outside the dwelling unit there
will be a simple but attractively de-
Eigned and ~andscaped yards. Com
munity facilities will be provided,
both indoors and outdoors, includ.
ing both large and small play.
grounds.
Not in recent years has any sin
gle development caused so much pub
lie discussion as has the 1ow-rent
housing program, and it appears
that public interest is intensifying
rather than diminishing as time
goes on and the occupancy date
draws nearer. How, it is demanded,
can the Housing Authority provide
6 o much in the way Of dwelling &C.
comodations for so little rent?
The answer is simple, but is divid-
ed into several parts.
First, the subsidy to be paid by
the United States Housing Author
ity to the Local Authority almost
eliminates the annual debt service
charge. The Local Authority has
four contracts with the USHA. Two
are loan contracts. They provide
for the purchase by the USHA Of
bonds Of the Local Authority
amounting to a. maximum Of 80 per
cent Of the development Of each Of
the two local projects. The bonds
are to be amortized over a maxi
mum period Of SO years from COM
pletion Of the projects. They bear
interest at the rate Of 3 per cent
in the case Of New Brooklyn Homes
and 3 II per cent in the case Of
Charles T. Negbitt Courts, the vary
ing rate being accounted for by the
f~luctuation Of the market rate on
United States government bonds.
The remaining ten per cent of the
cost OF the projects is to be financ-
ed by the Local Authority through
the sale Of bonds to purchasers
other than the USHA. These will
probably bear interest Of around 3