Blase Cooke House in Columbia, Maryland, before and after renovation by Harkins employee and subcontractor volunteers.
Blase Cooke House
A Living
Legacy of Community Service
By Larry Kraemer
A few years back Blase mentioned that he would like to have a community service project where Harkins, along with some of our subcontractors providing in-kind services, could create a home ownership opportunity for a deserving family. While going through Leadership Howard County in 2006 I thought of Blase’s idea again. During a police ride-along I was shocked to learn that, because of limited affordable housing opportunities, many who provide our services live far outside the county. Meetings started in the spring of 2008 with the county’s housing department, and with the support of its director, Stacy Spann, the idea started to take shape. The county offered their assistance in administering the qualification and selection process.
We set out to find a single family home in Howard County for less than $150,000. That amount would provide a mortgage in the range of a public service worker in the county. Blase’s son Kevin, a Long and Foster realtor, assisted us, but the first several houses we found were in need of demolition rather than renovation.
Finally in January of 2009 a single family home in foreclosure came up, and our all-cash offer on the Blase Cooke House was accepted. It took two months to close and we started interior demolition one week later. Harkins estimating and IT teams, along with field support, accomplished our demolition scope in one day and engaged other departments and subcontractors to help us complete the job and bring the house to a better-than-market standard. All of the interior finishes will be new, and the 4-bedroom 2-bath home will include new insulated glass windows, shutters, roofing, landscaping, concrete driveway, and sidewalk. Inside, the improvements include all new bathrooms, kitchen cabinets, appliances, doors, trim, closet shelving, wood flooring, tile, carpet, light fixtures, and fresh paint. Improvements also include a new central heating and air conditioning system and water heater.
Harkins Builders volunteers led by Chuck McCann, Laura Shilling, and Bob Fritz made a tremendous effort, and the house was finished well in advance of the lottery drawing in July. Walt Whitlow and Dick Dohler assisted in securing the key subs and suppliers. Our subcontractors stepped up immediately and we cannot thank them enough for their generous support. When I first discussed this project with Blase’s wife, Dawn, she encouraged me to do “whatever you can to keep Blase’s name alive.” I am sure he would have been proud of the teamwork, effort and time contributed by so many people to accomplish this task.
Latest News
On Tuesday, July 28th the lottery drawing was held at Howard County Headquarters for the right to buy this Harkins-purchased and renovated house in Columbia.
Lottery winner Karen Towson poses with: L-R: Stacy Spann, Howard County Director of Dept. of Housing and Community Development; Jason Cooke and Dawn Cooke, who donated $5,000 towards moving expenses; Larry Kraemer, Vice President of Preconstruction Services, and organizer of the community service project; Karen Towson, winner of the Blase Cooke House lottery; Joani Van Tuyl, representing Harkins and the Cooke family; Lonnie Robbins, Howard County Chief Administrative Officer.
Thanks to our Subcontractors
We gratefully acknowledge all the Harkins subcontractors who gave so enthusiastically of their time, energy, and resources. The following companies and their employees provided their time and in-kind services:
Advanced Window
Brothers
Builder Resource
Building Dynamics
Colonial Electric
Design House Kitchens
Charles E. Dorsey Landscaping Contractors
EZA Concrete
Floors Etc.
Granite America
Charles A. Klein & Sons
Lach Tile
Madison Mechanical
McCormick Paints
Mill Supply
POS Painting and Drywall
Roll-Off Express
Sunbelt Rentals
Topper Roofing
Town Creek Landscaping
Harkins Volunteers
The following Harkins employee volunteers were instrumental in making this vision of Blase’s come to fruition:
Joe Andrews
Scott Bauer
Nick Berry
Omar Black
Dave Borkowski
Victor Bronfman
Arlene Brown
Tom Capps
Jason Cooke
Tracy Crawford
Dick Dohler
Greg Ferenschak
Ed Fisher
Bob Fritz
Cherrie Gundel
Barbara Hayden
Casey Hughes
Wade Hughes
Gladys Hyman
Mark Kelehan
Raed Khalil
Dave Lamberson
Larry Kraemer
Tracey Leake
Tom Lemon
Brian Lombardo
Mike Lynch
Scott Mandichak
Matt Martin
Chuck McCann
Robin Minnick
Lisa Olsen
Dave Quinn
Jan Rider
Laura Shilling
Mike Skoglin
Todd Souder
Joani Van Tuyl
Charles "Butch" White
Wayne White
Walt Whitlow
Baltimore Sun article: Columbia woman wins right to buy house renovated by Harkins
Remembering Blase Cooke
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