Extreme Makeover coming to Kokomo

Posted: Thursday, October 15, 2009 1:00 am | Updated: 11:29 am, Wed Oct 21, 2009.

By Peter Adelsen staff writer padelsen@kokomoperspective.com | 0 comments

A lucky Kokomo area family in need has been chosen as a future home featured on "ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."

On Tuesday, Hallmark Homes, based out of Anderson, announced at the Inventrek building that they will build a brand new custom-built home for the family.

Five area families within a 30-mile radius of Kokomo are being considered by the television show and the announcement of the actual home will be on Oct. 21, the day Ty Pennington, the host of the show, arrives on their doorstep. The moving van will soon arrive and the home will be demolished the next day. A new home will then be completed in 106 hours, said Paul Schwinghammer, president of Hallmark Homes.

The size and other specifications are not yet determined, but the home will be larger than a bread box and smaller than the Empire State Building, Schwinghammer said.

For the design of the home, the needs of the family are considered, he said.

"A lot of the times that happens right on site," he said. "So we work with the designers in discussing the overall needs of the family being considered and the actual final touches will happen once the family is chosen and that is revealed."

The home will be built completely on donations from companies and volunteers, he said.

"Everything is donated," he said. "We need people on the roof and on the ground and everywhere in between. We're going to be serving food, serving coffee, serving drinks and snacks 24 hours a day to hundreds of people. We have holes that need to be filled. We've been working on this for two weeks trying to find subcontractors, vendors, and suppliers for the project to donate the materials. We don't make a nickel on this. None of the trades are making a dime."

People who would like to volunteer from skilled to unskilled can sign-up by going to hallmarkextreme.com.

One such hole currently for the project is for drywall, he said.

For each project that "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" is a part of, there are special activities that go on.

"We have a charity auction planned, family day planned, blood drive, and a food bank drive planned," he said. "The show is known to fill up three food pantries every time they come into a town. We expect to do at least that, if not more for this one. We're going to give lots of blood, and we're going to get lots of people involved even if it is in those ways."

Recently, Schwinghammer attended an "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" taping in St. Paul, Minn., where he witnessed a home being demolished.

During the construction of the home, the television show will have its traveling security with them along with local police, he said. The television crew will have production equipment on the property and possibly surrounding properties as well.

"There will be tents and other things sitting on other people's yards and they get compensated for it," he said. "For the neighbors who are really close, they offer to put them up in a hotel if it's going to be inconvenient. Some of the neighbors that we talked to said, 'Heck no, I don't want to be in a hotel. I want to sit on my porch and watch the action.'"

During the show, a variety of sponsorships will be offered and the proceeds will benefit the cause and the family.

On Oct. 16, there will be a pep rally for the show. The show's producer Conrad Rickets will be attending. The time and place are yet to be determined and will be on hallmarkextreme.com when it becomes available.

When Schwinghammer first found out about the possibility of the show coming, he thought it was some sort of a joke.

"I thought about it and I talked to my wife and Derek Wilder (the CEO) about it and we discussed and thought, 'You know, this isn't about Hallmark; this is really about what Hallmark can do along with this community to help a deserving family. This is quite an honor for us."

Some businesses and community partners have already signed up to be a part of the project. Partners include: Anderson University, Carter Lumber, Bilt Best Windows, Reese Wholesale, Climate Master, JN Stone, Modern Trailer Sales, Blakely's Flooring, Madison Millwork, Schneider Electric, and Ball State University.

The event from the Kokomo area will be the 164th build on the show and will be the 14th episode this season.

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