Building project gives homeless elderly a reason to be thankful.

An unusual partnership between a woman construction manager, local unions and a group of building industry leaders has given new life to Peter's Place, a Chelsea drop-in center for elderly homeless, according to Sandra Wilkin, president of Bradford Construction Company.

Bradford Construction joined forces with the New York Building Foundation, and together with the Foundation's Janine Kourakos, put together a team of construction labor and management which is converting a church basement into a welcoming, modern facility.

Volunteers from the New York District Council of Carpenters, in conjunction with Local 530 of the Tapers and Plasters Union and many other professional people and suppliers, provided services, working quickly and efficiently to rebuild Peter's Place using a design created by the firm of Bromley Caldari Architects.

Bromley Caldari provided designs and helped obtain permits. A bulk of the electric work was donated .by ADCO Electric, and WDF/Greene donated a portion of the plumbing supplies and labor, Kourakos said.

The renovation of Peter's Place, a 10,000 square-foot drop-in-center for elderly homeless in the basement of St. Vincent's de Paul on West 23rd Street, is more than half done after three months of construction, thanks to Bradford, the Building Foundation, and the coalition of building industry and union partners.

Run under the umbrella of the Partnership for the Homeless, Peter's Place serves meals to 100 frail and elderly homeless every day, finds them permanent housing, and provides medical services and other social services, Bradford said.

Supporters of Peter's Place knew it was in need of a total renovation, but funds were hard to come by, even as the New York Building Foundation worked long and hard with the center and its landlord to patch things up.

"Peter's Place is a resource for many elderly homeless who have nowhere else to turn," Wilkin said. "Everyone involved wanted this project to succeed, and the scope of the work needed to be done called for a full-court press by a strong team of highly skilled workers."

Recognizing that Peter's P1ace needed major surgery, not band-aids, Wilkin said she and Kourakos worked with city officials, the Partnership, the church and the unions to get the project moving. Together they formed an unusual alliance of labor and building trade management, rebuilding the space at the most reasonable cost and with as little disruption as possible.

The New York District Council of Carpenters Labor Technical College, through its apprenticeship training program, is providing volunteers to help rehabilitate the space.

The renovation includes the construction of a medical outpatient unit, along with replacing bathrooms and kitchens, and installing new electrical service.

Wilkin and her team from Bradford Construction Company gutted the space, put up new walls and floors, created bright new medical examination rooms, and installed new kitchen and bathrooms fixtures - all the while keeping the site operational.

"This is an unusual partnership between labor and construction management," Wilkin said. "Without the efforts of Bradford, the Building Foundation, the New York District Council of Carpenters, Bromley Caldari, ADCO Electric, WDF/Greene and many other dedicated contractors city-wide who donated their valuable trades and skills, Peter's Place would never have survived."