Wildflower Condominiums project breaks ground
Louisville residents focus on rebuilding after 2021 blaze
Almost 11/2 years after the Marshall fire burned down a third of homes in the Wildflower Condominiums complex, residents and Louisville community members gathered Saturday morning to celebrate the beginning of reconstruction.
Hosted in partnership with Marshall Together and the Community Foundation, the groundbreaking celebration marks the beginning of the “tangible progress” made by the condominium’s homeowners association, the city of Louisville and various community partners.
“It’s been a long, long road to get to this point since that fateful day when not just us, but nearly 1,100 persons and families and homes got displaced,” said Mark Appelfeller, the HOA board president and a Wildflower resident who lost his home in the Dec. 30, 2021, blaze.
After facing unique challenges in rebuilding, the complex received the permits required to build two weeks ago, according to Appelfeller.
“About last weekend, I felt like a kid out of school on the last day of school — it felt so good to finally get to that point,” he said.
One challenge the community faced in rebuilding was the initial debris removal process, according to Billy O’donnell, a former engineer and Wildflower resident who lost his home in the fire.
“You couldn’t take soil samples, and you need to take soil samples because the debris was here,” O’donnell said. “So everything had to go in sequence.”
O’donnell volunteered to be on the HOA board after the fire, lending his experience in engineering and construction. He and the board worked alongside many organizations, engineers and experts.
“With the help of an awful lot of people … we’ve gotten to this point,” Appelfeller said.
Although the groundbreaking ceremony marks an important milestone, there is still much to be done.
Construction is expected to take between 12 and 15 months, after most homeowners’ insurance coverage for alternative living expenses has expired.
Appelfeller compared the process to training for and running a race.
“We have gotten something done, but we spent a year and a half in training — we’re just now at the starting line,” he said. “It’s not a 10K; it’s a marathon. We’re going to be involved in this for quite a few more months.”
Despite much lying ahead, community members in attendance expressed gratitude toward the community, various people who have helped with the project and the firefighters who responded the day of the fire and were also at the groundbreaking.
“It means a lot to see all of the support and help that the whole community has given,” said Deborah Fahey, a member of the Louisville City Council who also lost her home in the fire. “Now it’s up to us to build our houses, and congratulations on getting this done.”