By Christina Santucci
The groundbreaking for a storm-resistant home in the Rockaways got a boost from a former First Daughter over the weekend.
Chelsea Clinton helped hammer in a ceremonial nail at a hurricane-ravaged Beach 46th Street home, which is owned by the Lyons family and slated to be rebuilt with the winning design from the St. Bernard Project’s competition to envision the best residence to weather future storms.
Designed by Sustainable.TO Architecture + Building, the new 1,590-square-foot house is expected to be finished in July, a timeline that cannot come soon enough for homeowner Lintia Lyons.
“They go to work, they put the kids to sleep with this big issue in the back of their head and that’s when am I going to get home?” said Zack Rosenburg, founder and CEO of the New Orleans-based St. Bernard Project. “I’m happy to say that because of these partners we’re going to get the Lyons home.”
The family of six has been renting a two-bedroom apartment several blocks away for the past few months. At their house, 12-year-old twins Caleb and Chara each had their own room.
“I think the kids miss their backyard, a warm room, the freedom of being home,” said the family’s patriarch Felix Lyons.
“It’s a moment of happiness and sadness. It’s mixed emotions,” he said.
The night of the storm, the family heeded the mandatory evacuation for the Rockaways and headed to Brooklyn. They came back to the peninsula the following day.
“Everything was toppled over, drenched in water,” Lintia Lyons said, explaining that only items stored in the attic survived Hurricane Sandy.
In the month following the storm, the family also had to deal with making sure the twins got to school from their hotel near John F. Kennedy International Airport — one attends Scholars Academy, which was temporarily relocated to Brooklyn, and the other goes to Goldie Maple Academy in Far Rockaway.
“We were leaving home at 5 in the morning,” she said.
Lintia Lyons heard about the home rebuilding program, which is being done by the St. Bernard Project and partners that work with the Clinton Global Initiative, through the Friends of Rockaway organization and never thought the family would be chosen when she filled out the forms several months ago. The family used money they received from their insurance company to pay for part of the rebuilding, and the rest was donated.
She described the design as “awesome.”
The Lyons’ new home will be elevated and feature a flood-resistant foundation, according to the plans. In addition, a metal roof and siding will be used to reduce maintenance and increase the home’s lifespan, the plans said.
The St. Bernard Project partnered with Architecture for Humanity, Make it Right, The American Institute of Architects and sponsor Dow Building Solutions to seek out affordable, detached, single-family residential designs to be used to build houses in New Orleans; Joplin, Mo.; and New York as the areas recover from destructive storms.
Before the groundbreaking, Clinton took part in the Clinton Foundation’s “Day of Action” at the same Beach 29th Street playground in Far Rockaway that her father, former President Bill Clinton, visited earlier this year.
Reach managing editor Christina Santucci by e-mail at timesledgerphotos@gmail.com by phone at 718-260-4589.
