Deconstruction Project Yields Saleable Materials

A press conference will be held Thursday, July 18, to offer a look at materials and fixtures harvested from the Stanton Dwellings Public Housing deconstruction project in Washington, DC.

According to the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), Washington, and other organizers of the project, products that will be for sale include oak flooring, dimensional lumber, windows, doors, tubs, toilets and sinks. A full merchandise price list includes more than 50 items that have been culled from the site, located at Alabama Ave. and Stanton Road SE in the nation’s capital.

The deconstruction and disassembly project is part of an overall redevelopment project being undertaken by several not-for-profit groups redeveloping the area into free-standing single-family homes. A total of 348 units in 87 buildings are being disassembled. Workers for the project have been drawn from among the families of former tenants of the Stanton homes.

“By combining our labor, raw materials and capital, we are creating a bright future for participants,” says Jerry Griffin of the NOAH group, one of the not-for-profit groups involved in the project. “There are at least 200 people on a waiting list for job openings,” he notes.