NEWPORT - A $4 million renovation of the building at 50 Washington Square is slated to begin as early as this September. The building, which houses an emergency shelter for the homeless, transitional housing for those who are trying to get their feet back on the ground, and government subsidized units on the top floors, will get a complete facelift.

Steve Ostiguy, executive director of Church Community Housing, the non-profit that runs the shelter and housing program, said, "It's been 15 years since the last restoration, and improving people's standard of living will give them a sense of pride."

Church Community Housing Corporation Executive Director Steve Ostiguy shows off the plans for the 50 Washington Square renovation project, aimed at improving the quality of life for residents and spiffing up the outside of the building.

In addition to the emergency shelter and transitional housing, 50 Washington Square contains 70 single room occupancy (SRO) units, 15 efficiency apartments and 23 one bedroom apartments.

The major change inside will be the conversion of those SRO units into 55 efficiency apartments by expanding them and adding a bathroom and a cooking space to the now dorm-like rooms.

Right now, the residents in the SRO units must share one bathroom per floor as well as use a communal kitchen located on the bottom floor of the building.

"You end up with a more stable population," said Ostiguy of the upgrades.

While most of the 70 rooms are full, Ostiguy simply plans on not renting to new clients for the time being, and let the natural turnover rate whittle the number down.

"Nobody will be displaced," he said.

Debbie Johnston, Church Community Housing's Housing coordinator, reported that both she and the residents are excited about the renovations.

"It's going to give these folks more stability," she said. "In many ways, it will be a much better living situation for people, but it does decrease our numbers, which is hard given the housing crunch in Rhode Island."

In addition to the SRO conversions, Church Community Housing plans on upgrading the rest of the rooms and apartments, including the emergency shelter, and getting new carpets and paint jobs for the hallways and common areas.

The outside of the building will be repaired as well. Ostiguy said that as the building is on the National Register of Historic Places, the upgrades will fall in line with that agency's standards.

Italian plaster work on the outside of the building will be restored, the building cleaned, a new roof installed, and Ostiguy hopes to make improvements to an upstairs deck area that serves as a gathering place for residents.

The project is funded through historical and low-income tax credits and grants from both the state and federal government.

Church Community Housing will ask the Newport City Council at its Wednesday, Aug. 25, meeting for permission to close off part of Meeting Street and erect a staging area for construction.

They will also ask the city to forgive $93,000 of a total $493,000 that they owe the city. This money was originally part of a Community Development Block Grant issued to Newport by the federal government, part of which Newport then lent Church Community Housing for an earlier Washington Square project.

Fifty Washington Square was built in 1911 as a YMCA for the enlisted men in the Navy. When the Navy restructured in the 1970s, the building fell into disuse. It has been a center for people having trouble finding housing ever since.

BY HEIDI EFFINGER