Officials and residents participate in the ribbon cutting ceremony for the first phase of major renovations at the Beaver Street Apartments

Beaver Street Apartments in Danbury, CT was the site of a ribbon cutting ceremony held on December 11, 2012 to highlight the completion of major renovations to the property. The complex houses 70 low-income cooperative units.

More than $750,000 was invested in phase I of the renovations. A variety of funding sources was used for the project, including stimulus funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the city of Danbury's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, Connecticut Light & Power (CL & P) grant program and the Cooperative's reserve for replacements dollars.

Phase I renovations included replacement of rear courtyard fences at every unit; 525 new energy efficient windows; five new energy efficient boilers; new thermostatic controls in all units; the addition of water conservation flow restrictors in each unit; and site improvements, including work to retaining walls, parking, walkways and energy efficiency improvements to exterior lighting. The second phase of the project will involve mostly interior renovations; the third and final phase will include new roofs on the complex's 12 buildings.

Those in attendance at the ceremony were CT HUD Acting Field Office Director Suzanne Piacentini, Senator Christopher Murphy (D-CT) and Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton. Mayor Boughton had the honor of cutting the ribbon. Also present were representatives from CL & P and the State of Connecticut Department of Social Services (DSS), their contractors and local officials. DSS coordinated the weatherization funding.