community news
Demolition Makes Way For New Neighborhood
Demolition of the first phase of homes is scheduled to begin in February. Additional demolition schedules include 246 units in June and 228 units in December. The transferring of current Residents into new homes for the second phase of demolition is currently underway. When complete, 732 older townhomes will be demolished to make way for 523 new homes. The neighborhood’s name will also change to Oak Park, and will be the second community at Knox Hills to offer Residents new homes in a master planned community. New homes in Oak Park will consist of three, four or five bedrooms and will include open floor plans, a one-car attached garage, concrete driveways and fenced backyards. “The new homes in Oak Park will be identical to the homes in our Maple Ridge community which was completed in May,” stated Knox Hills Development Manager, Phil Wrobel. “Additionally we will be reworking the roadway going into Oak Park to make the neighborhood easily accessible to Residents.” As with all homes built at Knox Hills, the Oak Park homes will include sustainability initiatives such as geothermal for heating and cooling plus domestic hot water, CFLs in all light fixtures and Energy Star appliances. Project Director Matt Wilbourn stated “This is a very exciting time for Knox Hills. We are making huge progress in replacing old, outdated homes with new energy-efficient units that our Military members and their Families will be proud to live in. And I know I speak for all Knox Hills employees when I say we are proud to be a part of this positive lifestyle change for our Soldiers.” The first 176 homes being constructed are scheduled to be completed by June 2011, with all 523 new homes in Oak Park scheduled for completion by November 2012. The Fort Knox Army website states that the Van Voorhis neighborhood was originally named after Col. Daniel Van Voorhis, who was named commander at Fort Knox after Congress authorized the creation of the Mechanized Force in 1930. Van Voorhis, along with his executive officer, Lt. Col. Adna R. Chaffee Jr., ensured that Cavalry operations became a primary focus at Fort Knox. | News Archives |
December was a busy month for Knox Hills personnel as they completed the daunting task of vacating 258 outdated homes located in the Van Voorhis community to make way for 176 new homes.