What Difference a Day Makes!

We had our first volunteer work day at the 1802 Madison Project today, and around 25 people came out to help with some major yardwork and housecleaning!  Before today's labor, the yard looked like this:

Yes, there is a house in there somewhere.  Give me just a minute and I'll prove it to you.  After 7 hours and a whole lot of sweat, this was the result:

The labor started early as Carole King and Paul Rawlinson from Capitol Heights arrived to help tame the yard along S. Madison Terrace.  You'll also see Brett from Jack Ingram Motors:

Brett arrived with tools, equipment, and something we needed a lot of today:

A special thanks to Brett and Jack Ingram for keeping us hydrated!    Folks dropped by throughout the day, and we managed to clear most of front yard.  Below you'll see Leon Darby who put us all to shame with one heckuva work ethic:

Leon was hard at work while Terry Robinson slacked off as usual:

Brett and Paul (sorry, didn't catch your last name) tackle some of the cherry laurels growing below the Magnolia on the East lawn of the house.

Paul contemplates entering the jungle as I cut out some cherry laurels in the background:

Reinforcements arrived in the form of Tim with a second chainsaw:

Okay, so maybe Terry did some work:

Scott Page was monkeying around with the ivy that had taken over the Magnolia in the East yard.

We had a rare sighting of Martin McCaffery (of the Capri Theatre) in the wild.  I think he's like Bigfoot, because we couldn't seem to get a clear picture of him:

The overgrowth was everywhere!  We pulled vines out of trees, out of bushes, and out of the Perry House itself.

At the end of a hard day's work, the old girl's potential is starting to become visible.  Thanks to everyone for coming out!

Volunteer Day Reminder

Next Saturday, May 18th will be our first "Volunteer Day" at the 1802 Madison Project!!  We'll start around 10 AM and work until about 4 PM.  Lunch will be provided and we'll have bottled water available throughout the day.  If you'd like to help out or have any questions please contact Cindy Keeping, our volunteer co-ordinator.  She will be onsite at 10:00 on Saturday and can be reached via e-mail at cindykeepingrealtor[at]gmail[dot]com.
 
Next Saturday we'll be doing the following: 
1.  Clean the kitchen out on the first floor 
2.  Clean out the downstairs bathroom 
3.  Remove boxes, junk from upstairs 
4.  Remove vines from front yard 
5.  Shrub removal 
6.  Rake front yard under magnolias 
7.  Remove carpet on first floor

 
If you'd like to help out with supplies, we could use the following items: 
1.  Trash bags - large and strong 
2.  Brooms and dust pans 
3.  Snow shovel - to remove all the loose fallen plaster from upstairs floor 
4.  12 ft ladder 
5.  Old lamp to leave on at night 
6.  Shop vac 

Please bring any of following for your own use:
Clippers - cut vines & trim shrubs
Shovels - uproot shrubs/small trees
Rakes - to remove leaves under magnolias
Hammer/prybar - carpet removal

If you bring your own tools, we recommend you write your name on any tools you bring on site to cut down any confusion.

Hitting the Streets

Last Saturday, the 1802 Madison Project had a booth at the Street Fair on Dexter Ave.  Thanks to the efforts of our volunteers we raised some much needed funds as well as awareness of the Project.  A special thanks goes out to Robin Birdwell who designed this great poster for use at the Fair and for other promotional purposes:

We'll try to get the poster up in some local shops in the next few weeks.  Thanks for your support!

Picking up Scraps

In addition to some initial clean-up over the weekend, we  removed a good deal of salvageable scrap material that was lying around the Perry House.  All told, we gathered:

10 pounds of brass

35 pounds of extruded aluminum

80 pounds of aluminum cans

14 pounds of lead

7 pounds of mixed aluminum

74 pounds of electric motors

18 pounds of no.1 copper,

12 pounds of no.2 copper

56(!) pounds of insulated copper.

The material was sold to Sabel Steel, and the proceeds will go towards supplies for this weekend’s volunteer event.

Calling all volunteers!

Next Saturday, May 18th will be our first "Volunteer Day" at the 1802 Madison Project!!  We'll start around 10 AM and work until about 4 PM.  Lunch will be provided and we'll have bottled water available throughout the day.  If you'd like to help out or have any questions please contact Cindy Keeping, our volunteer co-ordinator.  She will be onsite at 10:00 on Saturday and can be reached via e-mail at cindykeepingrealtor[at]gmail[dot]com.
 

Next Saturday we'll be doing the following: 

1.  Clean the kitchen out on the first floor 

2.  Clean out the downstairs bathroom 

3.  Remove boxes, junk from upstairs 

4.  Remove vines from front yard 

5.  Shrub removal 

6.  Rake front yard under magnolias 

7.  Remove carpet on first floor

 

If you'd like to help out with supplies, we could use the following items: 

1.  Trash bags - large and strong 

2.  Brooms and dust pans 

3.  Snow shovel - to remove all the loose fallen plaster from upstairs floor 

4.  12 ft ladder 

5.  Old lamp to leave on at night 

6.  Shop vac 

Please bring any of following for your own use:

Clippers - cut vines & trim shrubs

Shovels - uproot shrubs/small trees

Rakes - to remove leaves under magnolias

Hammer/prybar - carpet removal

If you bring your own tools, we recommend you write your name on any tools you bring on site to cut down any confusion.

The Augean Stables

    Yesterday was our first day of work on the 1802 Madison Project and several of the "stakeholders" (Project managers Christy Anderson and Cindy Keeping, investors Rich Anderson, June Jernigan, Karen Pell, Tim Henderson, Mendel Brown and N.D. Seibel) came together for a day of work.  Our plan of action was to clear away brush and wisteria from the porch, clean off the porch, and assess how much flotsam needed to be cleared out of the house.  N.D. wielded his mighty chainsaw to great effect against the cherry laurels and scrub trees that had grown up beneath the magnolia on the east lawn (despite appearances, Mendel is not actually fleeing in terror from the chainsaw wielding maniac behind him).

As the morning progressed, the house began to emerge from beneath its shroud of vegetation.  Tim surveys the progress:

Cindy and Christy cleaned off the cluttered porch and secured some weak spots in the floor (after Christy discovered one-ouch!).  Never one to be put off by adversity, Christy continued sorting and moving salvageable materials from the porch:

     At the end of the day we were left with a clean porch (except for the bags of cans removed from the house for recycling).

     Next Saturday, May 18 will be our first opportunity for volunteers to help out.  Details will be posted tomorrow.  Thanks for checking us out!

We own it!

     It's been a day fraught with tension and drama, but today CHIC 2018 purchased the 1802 Madison house.  This is the step on which all others depended and work can now begin in earnest.  The members of CHIC 2018 will be surveying the property tomorrow and we will begin planning for our first big volunteer effort: removal of the overgrowth that surrounds this great old home.  Also, in the next couple of weeks we'll be soliciting bids from roofing companies for the new roof.

     Of course what this really means that the Albatross is well and truly hung about our necks now.  We'll need every bit of your help to turn the poor old bird into a beautiful swan.  Thank you all for the enthusiasm that you've shown for this project and I hope that we can count on your support in the future.

And now, it's to bed, for we have an early morning tomorrow.

"He went like one that hath been stunned,

And is of sense forlorn:

A sadder and a wiser man

He rose the morrow morn."

Moving Forward

  Good news continues to arrive, here at the 1802 Madison Project.  Yesterday we learned that wewould be able to obtain the line of credit needed to finance the repairs thanks to ServisFirst bank.  I'd like to extend a special thanks to the CHIC  2018 partners who are putting their credit on the line to make sure that this house will be saved.

     Of course, this doesn't mean that the Project is paid for, because money borrowed is money that must be paid back.   That's where we still need your help.  We will be closing on 1802 Madison on Friday.  Shortly thereafter you'll see a new option for contributing, as Landmarks begins accepting donations through Paypal to support the Project.  A link for donations will appear on the sidebar of this page soon.  Remember, all donations are tax deductible and all net proceeds from the eventual sale of the property will go to benefit Landmarks and any other participating charities.

Publicity, pt. 3!

WSFA will be doing a story on the 1802 Madison Project tonight at 10.  Cindy Keeping, Glenn Donald, Christy Anderson, and Rich Anderson were interviewed about the project and the Perry House.  Check it out.

Publicity, part 2

Another day and another piece of exciting news for the Project!  Appearing in this morning's Montgomery Advertiser is an article by Allison Griffin about the 1802 Madison Project.  Accompanying the article is a photo gallery with some pictures of the house.

This positive publicity will make it much easier for us to promote this community effort to a wider audience.  You can help too!  If your friends or neighbors might be interested in the Project, please direct them here or to our Facebook page.  Thanks, and thanks to the Advertiser!

A new Partner joins the Project!

     Today, we received some very good news for the Project.  The Landmarks Foundation of Montgomery, a respected 501(c)3 non-profit organization established in 1967 to foster, encourage and lead the historic preservation movement in Montgomery, has agreed to partner with us!  Landmarks has long led the fight to save historic properties in Montgomery and they will be helping us to save historic home at 1802 Madison Ave.

     From the beginning, those of us who started this effort knew that 1802 Madison Ave. ("the Perry House") wasn't a traditional "flip" house.  Some of us have experience renovating houses for profit, but 1802 Madison was just too far gone for that to be an option.  Still wanting to save the house, our group of neighbors came together and agreed to put our money, our credit, and our labor into the house with the sole goal of preserving a vital piece of our neighborhood as a home for some future neighbor.  We agreed that saving the house was worth it, even if we lost money.

     Well, that was a liberating decision that allowed us to think "outside the box" regarding how this Project might go forward.  As a result, we've discovered a way to make the Project even more meaningful through a partnership with the Landmarks Foundation.

     CHIC 2018, the group behind this effort, will be entering into an agreement with Landmarks to use this project as a fundraising tool to further Landmarks' mission.  Landmarks isn't funding the project directly, but supporters of the Project will be able to make financial or "in kind" contributions through Landmarks to support the 1802 Madison Project.  When the Project concludes and the house is sold, all net proceeds of the sale (after repayment of the construction loan and expenses) will go back to the Landmarks Foundation to support them in their future preservation efforts.

     What does this mean for you?  It means that as a supporter of the Project you can make a tax-deductible donation to Landmarks and designate it as for the support of "The 1802 Madison Project."  Contributions will go directly to project expenses and will help to save a great old house that sits on Madison Avenue, the "Gateway to Downtown."  Thanks for your support, and special thanks to the great folks at the Landmarks Foundation!

How can I help?

     Things are moving along here at the 1802 Madison Project.  Closing is less than two weeks away, and work on this grand old house will begin shortly thereafter.  I've had a number of people e-mail about how they can contribute.  There are two ways:

1. Labor.  There's going to be a fair bit of "grunt work" over the next few months, from cleaning up the grounds to rebuilding porches and painting.  After assessing what needs to be done, we'll schedule some "Volunteer Days" for neighbors and anyone else who'd like to be a part of bringing this house back to life.  If you've got the heart to help, we can use you, whether you're an enthusiastic amateur or a skilled professional.  Keep an eye out for opportunities that will be posted here and on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Save1802MadisonProject.
2. Money.  Frankly, this project is going to take a good bit of money to complete.  We don't have corporate or government money behind us.  The neighborhood partners behind the Project are putting their credit and contributions on the line with the sole goal of saving this house.  We're taking out a loan to make sure that the the funds will be there to do the major exterior repairs.  We'll also be raising funds from our neighbors, fellow Montgomerians, and anyone else who'd like to be a part of the Project.  Already we've had offers of donations from $25 to $500.  Remember, even $10 will buy some dust masks or paint brushes, and we're going to need those for sure!  We are very fortunate to have the Landmarks Foundation of Montgomery as a partner in our fundraising efforts.

 We've had some folks call us crazy for taking this project on, but all of us believe that with the help of our friends and neighbors we can make sure this house becomes a part of Montgomery's future and not another lost piece of its past.  Thanks for your help and support!