City Park Named for HUD Employee

Senator Christopher "Kit" Bond making opening remarks at ceremony.

Mayor Francis Slay, City of St. Louis with Wood family members signing ordinance designating park in Ms. Wood's name.

Plaque honoring Ms. Wood.

The City of St. Louis has named a city park in the memory of long time HUD employee Janet B. Wood of the St. Louis Office. In a ceremony attended by many current and retired HUD staff, Senator Christopher Bond and other dignitaries, Mayor Francis Slay signed an ordinance naming the park at the George L. Vaughn Residences at Murphy Park on June 28, 2002.

Jan Wood was an employee in the Office of Public Housing at the time of her tragic death in 1998. She worked tirelessly on the Murphy Park development that replaced the dilapidated Vaughn Public Housing Project. In recognition of her work on this and other important Public Housing initiatives, the developer of the project, McCormack Barron & Associates of St. Louis proposed that a park on the site be named in her honor. Attending the ceremony were members of Ms. Wood's family.

McCormack Baron, a nationally recognized urban housing developer, hosted a "picnic in the park" to recognize its many community partners including the St. Louis Housing Authority, Missouri Housing Development Commission, U. S. Department of Housing and Urban development, the City of St. Louis and Fannie Mae.

Murphy Park pre-dated the HOPE VI program and became the model for public/private partnerships and mixed financed development of rental housing that include a component of public housing along with tax credit and market rate units.

This event highlighted Phase III with its 126 units brings to 413 the total number of rental dwellings constructed at Murphy Park, located in the neighborhood that was once the site of the George L. Vaughn public housing high-rises. The completed project will include 33% market rate apartments. The balance are tax credit units, with 54% available for public housing eligible families as part of the replacement of the former public housing complex. Units range from two-to- six bedrooms and include handicap accessible garden apartments. Each apartment features full size appliances including washer and dryer, refrigerator, stove and dishwasher. McCormack Baron Management Services, the management agent, reports that Phases I and II (completed in 1997 and 2000) have occupancy in the high 90%. Phase III units will be available in March 2003.