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Gainsborough residents press Roanoke to finish ARPA-funded home rehab, say last house remains incomplete
Summary
Multiple Gainsborough Neighborhood representatives told Roanoke council July 20 that a city-funded ARPA rehab program left one owner-occupied house unfinished and asked the city to use remaining funds and meet with neighborhood leaders to complete the project.
Residents of the Gainsborough neighborhood told Roanoke City Council on July 20 they are still waiting for completion of the final home in a $500,000 ARPA-funded owner-occupied housing rehabilitation program.
Brenda Allen, representing the Historic Gainsborough Preservation District (HGPD), said HGPD began outreach to city offices about the last home's renovation in November 2025 and that multiple attempts to get a response from city housing staff and the mayor's office had gone unanswered. Allen said the rehabilitation contract is signed and asked council to honor it.
Ricardo Stovall, who had earlier requested the street renaming, said the program started in June 2023 and that four homes have been completed but the fifth has not. He said the neighborhood was told by staff (Desi Winter, cited in the hearing) that the city would not proceed with remaining work and asked council to consider using remaining ARPA funds to finish the project: 'no home left behind,' he said.
Anita Wilson and Jerome Hayden, both HGPD core members, reiterated the neighborhood's months-long efforts to schedule meetings with city personnel and supplied a FOIA-based summary showing the pocket park on Wells Avenue cost about $283,000. Hayden said that suggests funds remain from the budgeted $2,000,000 for outdoor public gathering/recreation spaces that could be reallocated to finish the last house in the $500,000 rehab allocation.
City council members did not make an immediate commitment to reallocate funds during the meeting but thanked speakers and said staff would follow up with answers. The speakers asked the council to schedule a meeting with responsible city personnel to discuss options for completing the rehabilitation of the remaining house.
