Color rendering produced by Capital Architects of planned
look of St. Elizabeth House upon completion of renovations.
RENOVATION PLANS—June 2011
Mercy Housing —
An Overview
Mercy Housing and Shelter Corporation was founded by the Sisters of Mercy to purchase and operate St. Elizabeth House, a 32,000 square foot facility with 58 tenants and a food kitchen delivering over 250 meals a day to neighbors, when potential condominium development threatened the preservation of affordable housing.
St. Elizabeth House started first as a Hartford residence for the family of Henry Barnard, the first US Commissioner of Education, over two hundred years ago. In the 1900s, a religious order purchased the home and added a residential wing for affordable housing.
Mercy Housing and Shelter has started to raise funds to renovate the facility to assure it remains as a viable affordable housing and community resource in Hartford.
St. Elizabeth House
Due to major repairs that could not wait, we have completed:
- Removing a four foot high retaining wall that fronted Main Street and was at risk of collapsing. The wall has been replaced by a wrought iron fence, sloping front lawn, and a handicapped accessible sidewalk from Main Street to the main entrance.
- Replacing a defective elevator with a new Otis elevator adjacent to the main entrance that services five floors.
The next renovation phase is to remove any internal impediments to accessibility within St. Elizabeth House by adding a series of ramps and stairs. The original Barnard residence and residential wing were completed one hundred years apart and their floors have a variance of about two feet in places. That variance has prevented us from fully using the front portion of the building for program space. It also has people walking through the kitchen to get to various parts of the building. Once we have the necessary funds in place, we plan on correcting those obstacles with a ramp and stair addition.
We continue to make progress and are looking for funds to continue rehabilitating the facility including adding energy efficient windows, which rattle during a good wind; replacing mortar between the exterior bricks to keep them in place; adding a new medical suite and case manager office; moving the dining areas; and giving the resident rooms and community space an upgrade.
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