Polishing West Side ‘gems’

Volunteers fix up 100-year-old homes in San Antonio’s annual Rehabarama

In the 25 years that Altagrazia Barragan has lived in her 1920s home on Monterey Street, she has only painted it once. But on Saturday, the chipping, yellow home was transformed with blue paint.

The free service provided by volunteers from UTSA, San Antonio College and local contractors was part of San Antonio’s annual Rehabarama. The single-day service event organized by the city’s Office of Historic Preservation unites local contractors and other volunteers to perform repairs and maintenance on older homes for people who may otherwise be unable to afford the work.

For Barragan, who lives on Social Security and recently had heat stroke while working in her yard, the help is much appreciated and something that she has been looking forward to.

“I wish my heart could tell you how I feel,” said Barragan, 77. “It is just wonderful that they do this for people like me, a single person. I’m just grateful for everybody that’s helping.”

Barragan’s home was one of seven along Monterey Street that had work done Saturday. Painting was a major part of the effort on many houses, but replacing windows, windowsills and rotting porch wood was also on the list of things to do. Most of the homes were built in the 1920s.

The first Rehabarama was held in 2017, according to Shanon Miller, director of the Office of Historic Preservation. The work completed Saturday had been slated for last year but was delayed until now largely due to the pandemic.

In the previous events, contractors, students and other volunteers had worked on about 20 homes, but Miller said the pandemic and contractor availability limited how many people could be reached this time. She added that the city will hold another Rehabarama this spring in the area.

The annual event is meant to be beneficial for both students, many of whom are studying architecture, and homeowners. But Mill

er said Rehabarama also has helped the neighborhoods as the improvements have encouraged neighbors to start making changes to their houses, too.

“I think it’s really contagious when people start to reinvest and improve their neighborhoods, so that’s another thing we love to see,” Miller said.

The work completed on each home is worth about $10,000, Miller said. More than $450,000 worth of work on more than 50 homes in Denver Heights, Highland Park and Roosevelt Park has been completed at past Rehabaramas, according to the city.

Being able to be part of Saturday’s event was a treat for District 5 Council member Teri Castillo. Before she was elected, Castillo spent some of her time on the Historic Westside Residents Association finding people who wanted to have work done on their home at Rehabarama.

Castillo said the city should continue to support Rehabarama and build upon it, in part by investing in similar programs that are severely underfunded.

This weekend’s event was different than other volunteer opportunities that UTSA architecture student Javier Medina, 19, has done through groups like Habitat For Humanity.

“I like this a lot more because I get to interact with the person who lives here, and the building has a lot more history,” Medina said. “I like being able to bring it back to its glory days.”

Medina was one of about 50 student volunteers Saturday.

Each house had a separate contracting company that had volunteered to take charge of its facelift: A+I Contracting, AREA Real Estate, CVF Homes, Dean Howell

Inc., Long House Builders, Sundt Construction and Wendell Brown.

This was the third time for AREA Real Estate at Rehabarama, according to Luis Miguel Martinez, urban development director for the company. It also does a lot of historic renovation work downtown outside of Rehabarama, he said.

Being able to help improve old homes, which Martinez described

as “gems,” is a wonderful experience, he said.

“Seeing these houses get paint and a little bit of love is really good,” Martinez said. “It feels great to see neighborhoods — that are either up-and-coming or neighborhoods that are historic — being transformed.”

Sam Owens / Staff photographer UTSA student volunteer Sara Kubala works with Sundt Construction contractors to repaint one of seven houses along Monterey Street for Saturday’s daylong Rehabarama event.

Sam Owens / Staff photographer UTSA student volunteers Sebastian Arciniega, left, and Romelo Garcia, back, help a worker from A&I Contracting peel old paint off a house Saturday along Monterey Street.