HOME IMPROVEMENTS
TROY, N.Y. » One property had been abandoned for 10 years, the other had a tree growing in the basement. Now their owners are being honored for all the tender, loving care they’ve put into their respective homes.
On Tuesday, the Troy Little Italy Quality of Life Committee honored married couple Kathleen and Richard Kiernan with the 2017 Best Rehab Award, as well as Dr. Bruce King, and his wife, Nancy, with the 2018 version. Members of the Little Italy committee, as well as Mayor Patrick Madden, came out to honor the homeowners with a placard and certificate.
The Kiernans own 80- 82 Ferry St., where they both reside, and are landlords with two tenants.
“This was abandoned,” said Richard Kiernan. “There was a hole in the roof down to the basement.”
Kiernan works as a custodian at Grace Fellowship Church while his wife works at Siena College. He said they spent less than $70,000 renovating the building, which sits beside Joseph’s House and Shelter, and across from Spirits of Troy. The building was once owned by an attorney, said Kiernan, who lived and had his office there until he abruptly left it.
“There’s nothing more exciting to me than a building that has been vacant, and left behind, and ignored by people for years and years, and to see this kind of transformation,” said Madden. “Neighborhoods are more than just buildings, it’s the love that people put into these buildings that make a neighborhood a community.”
He said whenever someone puts these kinds of resources into a property, it tends to create a ripple effect, getting oth- ers to do the same.
“We’re so thankful for all of you,” said Nancy Kiernan. “We have community here, and it’s just meant so much to us, thank you.”
The previous award went to the owners of a home on Washington Street where there’d been a fire, said Sam Chiappone, of the Little Italy group.
“When people have the passion and pride of rebuilding, it
really does make the house a home,” he said.
Over at 298 Fourth St., the renovations have taken place over a span of years, and much of it was done with the help of friends. The Kings, not strangers to home renovation, bought the place because they wanted to live in a community where they could do some walking around.
“This is the second major house we did over,” said Bruce King. “We thought the last one was the last one, but we discovered it was too big, we had to drive everywhere, and we decided on a lifestyle that would include living near some colleges, near an interstate or two, an airport, and being able to walk to everything. We found Troy has that, and it’s constantly changing and improving itself. We also found some great people here.”