Congress Approves AIA-Backed Programs for Gulf Coa

Washington, DC, June 19, 2006--Two programs supported by The American Institute of Architects (AIA) to provide housing alternatives to mobile trailers and to repair historic structures have been approved by the U.S. Congress. Additional funding for hurricane recovery in the Gulf Coast region is part of the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Bill that has been sent to the President for his signature. The legislation creates a $400 million “alternative housing pilot program” to be administered by FEMA in Mississippi and Louisiana. These funds are to be used for projects that create modular housing for hurricane victims that are: • Hurricane resistant, using waterproof cement-plank siding and sealed wall panels that do not become saturated and subject to structural failure • Available at costs below those of temporary FEMA trailers • Able to be constructed quickly, using prefabricated panelized walls • Expandable into larger more comfortable living space as the owners become financially capable of doing so • Capable of becoming permanent structures. The legislation requires FEMA to prepare a proposal and expenditure plan for approval by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees within 45 days of enactment. The AIA Government Advocacy team is working on comments to FEMA on how these monies can best be used to create new, sustainable and livable communities. Tom Wolfe, senior director of AIA federal affairs, said, “The AIA pushed hard for this provision because we believe that innovative programs like this will offer displaced residents transitional and temporary-to-permanent housing and move FEMA away from the large tracts of mobile homes that clearly do not work.” The legislation passed by Congress also contains $40 million for a grants program in the Gulf Coast region to assist the owners of designated historic structures and structures eligible for historic status to restore their storm-damaged buildings. This provision was developed by the AIA and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Last November, then-AIA Executive Vice President/CEO Norman Koonce testified before a House committee in support of the program. “This is another important victory for the AIA and its members,” said Wolfe. “Thousands of historic structures in Mississippi and Louisiana are in danger of collapsing as a result of hurricane damage, threatening a major piece of our country’s architectural heritage. Working in conjunction with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, we were able to convince Congress that saving these sites matters.”

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