Blues announcer became dilapidated. Now it's a showpiece.

BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) - Tom Calhoun was surprised when he showed up for a ribbon-cutting at his childhood home in Belleville and discovered that the red brick had been painted blue.

The paint job had nothing to do with the fact that Calhoun has served more than 30 years as public-address announcer for the St. Louis Blues. He wasn't involved in the home's renovation and didn't even know until recently that Belleville Community Development Corp. had taken on the project.

But the Blues connection made for a good laugh on Feb. 18, and the Calhoun family was happy to see the dilapidated home saved from the wrecking ball.

'œWe were excited to hear that it was going to have another life, that somebody had taken an interest in it,'ť said Tom Calhoun, 69, who now lives in Millstadt. 'œIf it was just a bare lot, it would be kind of sad.'ť

The 1905 home had been condemned and slated for demolition. But Belleville City Council agreed in 2018 to turn it over to Belleville Community Development Corp., a nonprofit organization that rehabs derelict houses, using grant money from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development via St. Clair County Intergovernmental Grants Department.

The city also gave the organization the vacant lot next door and $5,000 in tax increment financing funds. Demolition would have cost $8,000 to $10,000.

Carpenters, masons, painters, electricians and plumbers spent nearly a year renovating the 1,800-square-foot home, which has three bedrooms, two bathrooms and an unfinished basement. It was listed for $114,900 and is now under contract with a HUD-qualified buyer.

'œBasically, we're trying to rehab homes to bring up home values in neighborhoods, especially low and moderate income neighborhoods,'ť said Amy Eggemeyer, Belleville Community Development Corp. administrative assistant.

The organization also renovated a frame home at 316 S. Ninth St. last year after buying it for $35,000.

Calhoun is a communications adjunct at Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville and a retired broadcaster who worked at radio stations throughout the St. Louis area. He also is public-address announcer for the Gateway Grizzlies.

His parents, the late Doris and William Calhoun, moved into what originally was a four-bedroom home in the early 1960s with Tom and his sister, now Bonnie Heffernan, of Freeburg. William's father, Robert, an immigrant from Scotland, also lived with the family.

William Calhoun was a Belleville alderman and St. Clair County Highway Department surveyor who knew many people in the region, so his home became a gathering spot for fish fries and other parties. Tom remembers the next-door neighbors having a beautiful flower garden.

Doris sold the home for about $25,000 at auction and moved into a senior apartment in 2004.

'œWe kind of kept an eye on the house for my mom's sake,'ť Tom Calhoun said. 'œShe'd ask how the new owners were doing. But then we got to the point where we didn't tell her anymore because it was kind of falling down. It was hard to watch.'ť

Eventually, the home was abandoned. Bricks fell off exterior walls, and plaster fell off interior walls. The roof partially collapsed. Animals crawled in through gaping holes and defecated on floors and cabinets. Homeless people squatted and scattered drug needles. Trash filled the basement.

The city of Belleville bought the home for about $800 from the St. Clair County trustee, who had acquired it due to unpaid property taxes.

Early last year, Belleville Community Development Corp. hired Dave Van Toll, owner of Reliable Building Services in Millstadt, as general contractor for the renovation. He and his cousin, Ben Jones, had their work cut out for them.

'œ(The home) actually had a tree growing out of it,'ť Van Toll said. 'œThere was also a family of raccoons and about 10 truckloads of garbage that we had to haul out.'ť

Belleville Community Development Corp. has been in existence for about 20 years. The goal of its all-volunteer board is to renovate three or four houses a year.

The renovation cost about $160,000. It was one of the organization's most challenging projects ever.

'œI think this one best represents what we're truly able to do, and that is take a house off the demolition list and bring it back to life so it can contribute to the community,'ť said board President Clint Forsythe. 'œWe're really the only ones who could have taken on this project to help stabilize the neighborhood.

'œThis house will last another 120 years,'ť he added. 'œWe've doubled the life of it.'ť

Van Toll has rehabbed several houses for Belleville Community Development Corp. One of his biggest rewards is seeing other neighborhood residents spruce up their properties after a project is completed.

Workers had to essentially gut the home and almost start from scratch. But they were able to save the staircase railing and most window and door casings. They painted the exterior because of the large number of bricks that had to be replaced, causing an inconsistent color pattern.

The only major change to the floor plan was converting Tom Calhoun's old bedroom into a second-floor bathroom.

'œThey did an amazing job (on the home), especially when you see the pictures of what it looked like when they took over,'ť he said. 'œIt would have been much easier for them to tear it down.'ť

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Source: Belleville News-Democrat, https://bit.ly/2PhAFCc