are setting a new record: the biggest donation of building materials
ever to Habitat for Humanity of Charlotte. In February, hundreds of
like-new kitchen cabinets, windows and doors are being removed from
the apartment complex to be sold at local Habitat ReStores.
Mecklenburg County bought the Cavalier Apartments in 2008 using a
combination of local storm water fee dollars and FEMA flood mitigation
grant funds. The apartment complex will be torn down in late February
and March. Before demolition starts, Habitat staff and volunteers are
removing reusable building materials, mostly from the 90 apartment
units on the second floor that were not damaged by flooding last
August. Those items include:
· 900 oak kitchen cabinets
· 764 vinyl windows
· 450 interior doors
· at least 90 exterior doors.
Habitat Donations Manager Tim Murphy called it the largest
deconstruction project that Habitat of Charlotte has ever been
involved with. "It took us a week to just uninstall the kitchen
cabinets," Murphy said. "With an energetic group of volunteers, we
filled an entire tractor-trailer last Saturday with cabinets from 40
apartments." The harvesting continues this week and next, and Murphy
expects to fill the equivalent of three tractor-trailers with the
donated building supplies from Cavalier.
Murphy estimates that Habitat will remove more than $90,000 worth of
materials from the apartments. The sale of these items at the ReStores
will be enough to pay for the construction of one Habitat home. The
two Charlotte ReStores are open to the public and have already begun
selling cabinets and doors removed in the past week from Cavalier.
David Goode, project manager with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water
Services, called the harvesting of cabinets, windows and doors from
the Cavalier Apartments a win-win for the entire community. "The
apartments will be torn down and never flood again. The open space
will benefit the neighborhood and water quality in Briar Creek.
Habitat will sell quality building materials to remodelers at an
affordable price. Tons of usable materials will be kept out of
construction landfills. And Habitat will reinvest the proceeds back
into the community as affordable housing for deserving families."
