houses a 49-bed skilled care nursing home. The cost was just under a half million dollars, and it opened December 1, 1973. It serves both men and women. One of the purposes of the home was to return some of El Paso's senior citizens to their home town.
Mrs. Evaline Lewis of Gridley leased the Tobein Nursing Home at 469 Elmwood Court in 1954 and operated it for nine months. She later opened a nursing home at 487 Elmwood Court which she had purchased. Following Mr. Lewis' death she married Charles Hughes and continued to operate the nursing home until she sold it to Mrs. Myrtle Morris February 1, 1973. Mrs. Irene Bearce became the manager and changed the name to Elmwood Manor Sheltered Care Home.
In the summer of 1973, construction began on a new million-dollar nursing home on East Second Street at Lovejoy. The one-story brick home provides private and semi-private rooms for 123 patients, with a large activity room, dining room and beauty shop, as well as facilities for physical therapy. Patients were transferred from the Tobein Elderly Citizens home and the Elderly Citizens Home on U. S. 24, both of which had been operated by Mrs. Myrtle Morris. Mrs. Morris is the manager of the new facility which is known as Hawthorne Lodge.
MOBILE HOMES – Changes in family patterns, building materials, and zoning regulations have changed the size, design and location of many homes during the past 20 years. Some of the older homes have been converted into two-family residences, and ranch types have replaced the larger two-story houses in popularity. Mobile homes on pocketsized lawns are appearing in greater numbers every year. There are several areas in El Paso that are especially designed as mobile home courts. Many of these mobile homes are quite large and functional but lack the mobility that their name implies.
MULTI-DWELLINGS – The Parr home located at the corner of Elm and Second Streets was purchased by Dr. E. E. Kelsey and has been remodeled into several apartments. In early 1973, Rex Pinkham constructed a four-unit modern apartment building at 601 East Second Street, and in 1974 he built a second four-unit building in the same area. Also in 1973, Robert Gilliland constructed two two-family dwellings at Elm and Fourth Streets. Don and Nancy Geiselman are nearing completion of a four-unit complex on Seventh Street.
A survey conducted by HUD in 1973 reported El Paso had 1,035 single dwelling units, with 2.8 percent vacant; 82 apartments, 11.2 percent vacant; 111 mobile homes, 3.6 percent vacant; and four homes under construction. Since a zoning ordinance was adopted in July 1959, the mobile homes have been located in seven specified areas, unless a variance is granted. Because of high prices for materials, labor and financing, home construction has been limited for several years.
A proposal from the National Housing and Urban Department commission that Eureka and El Paso be included in a housing program for low income families and elderly persons was discussed in the fall of 1972, and several public hearings were held in El Paso in the spring of
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