Fitchburg celebrates Wallace Tower upgrades

FITCHBURG — A crowd of dignitaries and onlookers gathered Wednesday as the Fitchburg Housing Authority held a ribbon cutting and ceremony to celebrate the $30 million conversion of its apartments at Wallace Tower downtown into an aging-in-place facility.

The highlight of the ceremony were a new intergenerational park just outside the apartment building, and a renovated community room on the first floor of the building.

But Fitchburg Housing Authority Executive Director Douglas Bushman noted the core aspects of the renovation involved updating the rooms and some of the operational systems within the building, enabling local seniors to have nicer units and “live longer, live better and live in our community.”

The renovation project is about 80 percent completed and has involved an intricate maneuver of fixing vacant rooms and then moving tenants to the fixed rooms and fixing the newly vacated rooms, Bushman said, saying it took a team effort to pull that off.

In all, he said the state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities has contributed $30 million for the project, the city provided $125,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds, and Unitil provided $750,000 in individual heat pumps for all the apartments, which were installed on the apartment decks, as part of an energy conservation project. The roof, sewer pipes and ventilation systems were also updated and the rooms all got updated kitchens, and most got new walk-in showers.

The small park just outside the building was dedicated to First Lt. Isabel Demmon (1917-2012), a Fitchburg native who served in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps, providing vital medical care to wounded servicemen in India, as well as later serving as assistant chief of nursing for the U.S. Veterans Administration.

Mayor Sam Squailia also touted Demmon’s “distinguished career” both in the Army and as a nurse in Manchester, N.H., and announced that Oct. 14 had been declared Isabel Demmon Day in Fitchburg.

“I had the pleasure of meeting her once and she was an amazing woman,” said Fitchburg Veterans Services Commissioner Michele Marino. “It was brave women like her that paved the way for future women veterans. … Unfortunately women veterans today don’t get the same recognition, but they also go to war, they also leave their families and also get wounded and killed.”

She said it was “much appreciated” that the city and the Housing Authority thought to dedicate the park to a female veteran such as Demmon.

Lisa Welcome, the executive director of the Montachusett Community Branch YMCA, said it was important to be able to make the park serve both the seniors in Wallace Tower, their families and the YMCA preschool program.

“There’s something special about a place that brings generations together. We strengthen those connections and make a community a home,” Welcome said.

Tenant Noel Plouffe gave thanks for the renovations to Wallace Tower, saying, “This building is serving the city’s elderly, or as I prefer to say, the chronologically challenged.”

He said, “What appears to everyone else to be a building made of bricks and reinforced concrete … is actually our village. This is where my neighbors look after me, and I look after them.”

“Now we have beautiful new apartments …. and we’re grateful to the city. This allows us to remain a part of the community. Thank you very much.”

The first floor community room was dedicated as the Cunningham Community Room, dedicated to Bucky and Marc Cunningham, father and son foremen for the Fitchburg Housing Authority.

“In honor of their shared legacy of more than 40 years of service. Through their integrity, dedication and heart, they strengthened our community and inspired all who knew them.”

Marc Cunningham was on hand for the presentation, and had said a few works thanking the crew for the hard work in doing the renovations to Wallace Towers. And he thanked Bushman for spearheading the repair efforts, saying, “Mr. Bushman, thank you for your vision. You came in here like a tornado,” and was able to go to the City Council and do the work needed to improve not only Wallace Towers but the entire Housing Authority.

But Cunningham was stunned when the mayor and Housing Authority unveiled a plaque dedicating the community room to him and his father.

“I’m only as good as the people around me,” Cunningham said.

“You kept this together through some tough times,” Bushman said. “We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you and so many others.”

A crew of Mike Minogue for governor supporters also gathered at the event, and stayed respectfully behind a fence as the ceremony was held.