Hawkins Village demolished; new complex to have community-friendly design

Hawkins Village in Rankin is now torn down, and the Allegheny County housing complex is being rebuilt.What will the new Hawkins Village look like? Watch the video above.Jonathan Glance, an architect with LGA Partners, said they want to make Hawkins Village a place that has a sense of community and they are designing it in that way.”I’m really passionate about this project,” he said. “This is an opportunity to transform a community that has really been underserved for many, many years.”Glance is designing the complex that will replace the one that was created for veterans coming home after the second world war in 1941. He said it was meant to be temporary housing, but decades later, it was still being used for permanent housing.”It was substandard conditions, to say the least. We toured the site with the Housing Authority, who was really working hard to try to find solutions to solve a problem that had gone on for a long time,” Glance said. “One of the problems, just the way it was designed intrinsically. It really wasn’t designed to help promote community.”Sky 4 flies over Hawkins Village demolition: Watch the video above.He said the complex will promote community in the details that make the difference.”We flipped the script,” Glance said. “If right now all the front doors face a common area, now the front doors face the street. Everyone has got a stoop, everyone has got a sense of identity. Each place is a little bit different than the next one. Each door is maybe a different color. Everyone has got their own backyard, their own picket fence.”He said the new design will have a park, new playgrounds, and a community center that offers recreational activities and job resources.The Allegheny County Housing Authority teamed up with the company Pennrose, cutting about 190 units down to 105 for the $35 million project that is a public-private partnership.Glance says those who lived in Hawkins Village were given vouchers for comparable housing and can have the chance to return by seniority.The first phase of the project is expected to be completed by next year.

RANKIN, Pa. —

Hawkins Village in Rankin is now torn down, and the Allegheny County housing complex is being rebuilt.

What will the new Hawkins Village look like? Watch the video above.

Jonathan Glance, an architect with LGA Partners, said they want to make Hawkins Village a place that has a sense of community and they are designing it in that way.

“I’m really passionate about this project,” he said. “This is an opportunity to transform a community that has really been underserved for many, many years.”

Glance is designing the complex that will replace the one that was created for veterans coming home after the second world war in 1941. He said it was meant to be temporary housing, but decades later, it was still being used for permanent housing.

“It was substandard conditions, to say the least. We toured the site with the Housing Authority, who was really working hard to try to find solutions to solve a problem that had gone on for a long time,” Glance said. “One of the problems, just the way it was designed intrinsically. It really wasn’t designed to help promote community.”

Sky 4 flies over Hawkins Village demolition: Watch the video above.

He said the complex will promote community in the details that make the difference.

“We flipped the script,” Glance said. “If right now all the front doors face a common area, now the front doors face the street. Everyone has got a stoop, everyone has got a sense of identity. Each place is a little bit different than the next one. Each door is maybe a different color. Everyone has got their own backyard, their own picket fence.”

He said the new design will have a park, new playgrounds, and a community center that offers recreational activities and job resources.

The Allegheny County Housing Authority teamed up with the company Pennrose, cutting about 190 units down to 105 for the $35 million project that is a public-private partnership.

Glance says those who lived in Hawkins Village were given vouchers for comparable housing and can have the chance to return by seniority.

The first phase of the project is expected to be completed by next year.