The Army is considering refurbishing abandoned military housing on Dry Hill to help provide a place to live for the increasing number of military families at Fort Drum.

The 27 homes next to the Watertown Correctional Facility on Swan Road were built by the Air Force in the 1960s and now belong to the state Department of Correctional Services.

John W. Deans, chairman of the Fort Drum Regional Liaison Organization, said renovating those houses could help bridge the gap between the current shortage and an expected wave of new home construction next year.

"I think what makes the Dry Hill complex attractive to Fort Drum is it will give us something in the short term," said John W. Deans, chairman of the Fort Drum Regional Liaison Organization.

The development is roughly 14 miles from Fort Drum, and all units are within the South Jefferson Central School District.

Although the yards have been kept mowed over the past decade since the houses were abandoned, and they seem to have been spared from vandalism, most will need some siding replaced, new garage doors, and new paint inside.

It is estimated that the work would take between four to six months to complete and will cost close to $1 million.

Most of the houses have three bedrooms, though there are two one-bedroom homes and one four-bedroom home, said James W. Corriveau, program manager for the Residential Communities Initiative at Fort Drum.

"They`re modest in size, for sure," Mr. Corriveau said. "It`s not extravagant by today`s standards."

He said it is not clear yet who will develop the homes or how ownership could be transferred.

In one scenario, a private developer could purchase the property and refurbish the houses. In another, the Army could end up buying and renovating the homes.

There are no set dates on when the homes could again be habitable.

"I think there`s a deal in the making right now," Mr. Corriveau said. "We just haven`t figured out how to structure it yet."

Copyright ©2000 - 2004, Johnson Newspaper Corporation, Watertown, N.Y. The information you receive online from Watertown Daily Times is protected by the copyright laws of the United States. The copyright laws prohibit any copying, redistributing, retransmitting, or repurposing of any copyright-protected material.

If not for the odd broken window and unhinged screen door, the 27 houses on the property of the Watertown Correctional Facility would resemble any other slightly run-down housing development.

The squat, faded yellow buildings outside the prison fence are behind a neat hedge of pine trees, and the freshly mowed grass helps disguise the fact that the houses, once part of the Dry Hill Air Defense Command Radar Station on Swan Road in the town of Watertown, have been vacant for 15 years.

In light of the growth of Fort Drum and the paucity of housing in the area, Empire State Development for the past year has been exploring ways to put the abandoned houses to use.

An Army-sponsored study in December concluded the housing market would have to expand by close to 3,000 units to meet the region`s housing needs. And the deficit continues to grow, as Fort Drum will experience a net gain of approximately 2,000 soldiers between now and March.

"We`ve been trying to figure out a way to do this for a long, long time," said Douglas B. Schelleng, economic development program administrator for Empire State Development`s north country office. But "the legal mechanism to get that done is unclear."

Mr. Schelleng said the prevailing wisdom is it may take an act of federal legislation to transfer the property from the state of New York. But then again, it may not.

For its part, the state Department of Correctional Services has said it would be willing to turn over the unused homes, according to corrections spokeswoman Linda Foglia.

"They asked if we would consider giving up the land, and we have advised them that we would be willing to surplus the land to OGS," she said, referring to the state Office of General Services. The agency provides support services, including disposing of unused government property, for state agencies.

Mr. Schelleng said Empire State Development is working with Rep. John M. McHugh, R-Pierrepont Manor, to determine the best way to proceed.

Brynn A. Barnett, Mr. McHugh`s spokeswoman, said the congressman is prepared to help in any way he can.

"It`s 27 units, so it`s not the be-all, end-all," she said. But "we`re looking at every and any option to help with the pinch."

Mr. Schelleng said a number of options are on the table: turn the houses over to the Army, put them in the hands of a private developer or make them part of the Army`s Residential Communities Initiative, which is already slated to build 845 new houses on Fort Drum.

"Depending on how the transaction is structured, that may preclude any of those options or point to one in particular," he said.

The units, which include one four-bedroom, 22 three-bedroom and four two-bedroom houses, were built in the early 1960s to house airmen stationed at the Dry Hill radar station. The base was deactivated in 1979, and the Army began housing families there that year.

But in 1988, the federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission targeted the houses for elimination, calling them "not economically efficient to operate."

Four years later, the corrections department took possession of the houses to use for office space.

Mr. Schelleng toured the site last summer and said the forlorn houses have potential.

"Yeah, they`re in rough shape," he said. "But there`s value there. If we could put a little money into renovating these things, they would be nice little houses."

Ms. Barnett said the fact the houses have been previously eliminated by BRAC complicates the process of turning them over to the Army or to a private developer.

"Now that New York wants it to be developed by a private developer, something needs to change, and it`s just a matter of whether it can be done without some sort of legislative fix," she said.

Whatever the solution, all of the parties involved agree they`d like to see the houses rehabilitated sooner rather than later.

"We want to see it done as expeditiously as possible," Ms. Barnett said.

Copyright ©2000 - 2005, Johnson Newspaper Corporation, Watertown, N.Y. The information you receive online from Watertown Daily Times is protected by the copyright laws of the United States. The copyright laws prohibit any copying, redistributing, retransmitting, or repurposing of any copyright-protected material.