By ROGER G. SMITH

By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Cotton sisters are unanimous on their favorite part of their new house.
Walk-in bedroom closets easily top the list for twins Janee and Lanee, 12, and sister Korree, 7. The whirlpool tub in the full bathroom is a close second.
Everything about 498 Madera Ave. is a dream for their mom, Dava.
"I just love it all, from the garage on down," she said. "It's a special blessing."
Her North Side neighbors agree.
The once fire-ravaged eyesore -- a thorn to the bank that owned it and the neighborhood that had to endure the blight -- is totally renovated inside.
An open house Thursday celebrated the partnership that made the project happen. Cotton and her family will move in next week after buying the renovated home that resulted from the collaboration.
In 2002, fire destroyed the upstairs after a foreclosure.
First Place Bank was frustrated trying to unload the problem property. Neighbors pressed to have the prominent spot, at Madera and Guadalupe avenues, demolished.
Then neighbors, the bank and YouthBuild Mahoning County teamed up.
Taking action
The Northside Concerned Citizens formed and coaxed the bank to give away the property and finance the $40,000 for renovations. The group got YouthBuild, an education program that teaches construction skills to high school dropouts age 18 to 24, to take the house and do the labor.
Cotton, an occupational therapist assistant at St. Elizabeth Health Center and Greenbriar Rehabilitation Hospital, was renting on the East Side. She was in a homeownership program run by the Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority when she discovered the Madera property.
She visited in the fall as work started and couldn't envision how the formerly burned-out shell would look.
But Cotton kept visiting. She loved the neighborhood, where North Side Pool is at the end of the street. She loved how everything would be all new, from the basement to the roof.
'I got a steal'
The collaboration meant she would pay just $59,900 for a three-bedroom, 1.5-bath home with walk-in closets, full basement and a two-car garage.
"I know I got a steal," she said.
Only original woodwork, 1928 vintage, on baseboards and the archway into a sun room in front are signs of age.
"The lady is getting almost a new house," said Art Keffer, who teaches construction methods at YouthBuild and supervises the work. So is the neighborhood, said Leon Stennis, who created the Northside Concerned Citizens.
He was pessimistic that the house would even be repaired. He figured the house would sit on the market a while even if it received basic repair.
Now, the neighborhood has a solid family in a new home on a prominent corner. It's more than he ever imagined.
"She's going to make the neighborhood proud, and the neighborhood is proud of her," Stennis said.
rgsmith@vindy.com