The Marydale Retirement Village, an affordable senior rental community at 135 Jeandell Drive, Newark, has undergone a major renovation.
A dedication ceremony for the project was slated for this week but was postponed, due to weather. The event will be held at a later date.
Marydale, sponsored by Catholic Ministry to the Elderly, originally opened in the spring of 1981.
Catholic Ministry to the Elderly sought to undertake a full modernization and renovation of Marydale. Catholic Charities, Inc., serves as the administrator of Marydale.
Catholic Ministry to the Elderly partnered with Leon N. Weiner & Associates (LNWA) of Wilmington to rehabilitate the facility. LNWA was also the original developer and construction manager of the community.
The community consists of 108 one-bedroom, garden-style apartments arranged in a series of nine courtyards for seniors who qualify as having low-incomes.
The property receives rental assistance from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and eligible residents pay no more than 30 percent of their adjusted income for rent.
The complex received exterior upgrades to residential buildings, including Energy Star windows and exterior doors and Energy Star exterior light fixtures, new roofs, gutters, downspouts, siding and shutters, and accessible entry porches to designated handicap units.
Interior resident unit upgrades included Energy Star heat pumps, Energy Star kitchen appliances, and Energy Star hot water heaters, as well as new kitchen cabinets, countertops, low flow/energy saving bathroom fixtures, bathroom grab bars, interior doors, flooring, and a sprinkler fire suppression system.
The community building, conveniently located to the housing units, also underwent extensive modernization and remodeling.
Outside, the community now boasts new accessible paths from all handicap units, new accessible trash enclosures, and landscape upgrades and drainage improvements.
The project was made feasible through financing from the DSHA, New Castle County, Citizens Bank, and Cinnaire.
