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After years of disrepair and what often seemed like little hope for redevelopment, the future of Beloit's Fairbanks Flats property looks brighter than it has in decades. Since Madison developer Gorman and Company first decided last fall to take on the project to transform the historic properties, plans have moved forward at a steady pace, with a groundbreaking tentatively set for early August.

For those who belong to the city's Fairbanks Flats Committee as well as the neighborhood Fairbanks Flats Revitalization Committee, the construction is the reward for more than eight years of labor. For at least one Beloit resident, it's much more significant than that.

The only remaining Beloiter - and one of only three survivors - of the first generation of workers who lived in the Flats, Lula Belle Brown, 93, first claimed the apartments as home as a young child in the 1920s.

Although she later left Beloit only to find her former vibrant apartment complex in shambles when she returned in the 1970s, Brown can still recall the beauty her home once exuded - and you might say she's been waiting for a burst of fresh air to fill the area with life once again.

“I'm just hoping that whatever they're going to do with them, they'll still do it while I'm living, because I'd just love to see it,” she said. “I haven't seen the plans yet, but I talked to Hugo Henry (who belongs to the Fairbanks Flats Revitalization Committee) and they're looking forward to it. I told him I'd be there.”

The plans to create low-income, rent-to-own apartments sound good to her, especially for young couples who want a safe place to raise children. She hopes they can enjoy and appreciate the value of the area while they are there - something she said she only did in hindsight.

“You know, when my kids were growing up it was a nice neighborhood to bring your family up in. Now across from the Flats there where the Methodist church is, there was a big field out there where the kids would always play and you wouldn't have to worry about them. Everybody played ball in that field - the husbands, the kids and the mamas,” she recalled.

“Living there, we didn't think so much of the place. When I was young I thought, oh, any place would beat livin' in Beloit,” she laughed. “But when I moved away I realized, there's no place like home. It was just a lovely place to live.”

The neighborhood Fairbanks Flats Revitalization Committee will meet on July 17 to view the final design plans for the 16 rent-to-own townhouse units and set an official date for the project's groundbreaking ceremony.

Once the final design plans are presented and approved by the city, the project must also receive state and federal review since the Fairbanks Flats are listed on both the Wisconsin State Register and National Register of Historic Places.

Neighborhood committee members say they are thankful the project's made it through this far, and are looking forward to seeing it through.

“All of this was providential. Man didn't have the ability to bring this about and make it happen - our group prayed for this to happen and now it is,” Fairbanks Flats Revitalization Committee President Ken Ware said.