One of Butler County's most troubled housing complexes will soon undergo a revitalization.

For the price of a medium pizza, the Butler County Housing Authority purchased from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development a 52-unit apartment building known as Butler Family Housing on Kaufman Drive on the south side of Butler.

The transaction, which began when HUD approached the Housing Authority about six months ago, was completed April 13.

"Cost me $10!'' said Perry O'Malley, executive director of the Housing Authority.

The token purchase price followed HUD's foreclosure on the property after about five years of nonpayment on the mortgage.

O'Malley said the Butler Family Housing was constructed as affordable housing in the 1980s by a private family enterprise. Because the complex was aimed at low-income dwellers, it was financed with federal tax credits and the mortgage was insured by HUD.

O'Malley said key players became ill and, ultimately, the mortgage wasn't being paid and maintenance was forgotten.

"Things really started going downhill in 1999 and it got progressively worse,'' O'Malley said.

HUD approached the authority last May and asked the agency to take over emergency management. "By this point, drugs had infested the place. There wasn't garbage collection. Electric was ready to be shut off,'' he recounted.

HUD gave the Housing Authority access to an emergency capital improvement fund and basic repairs have been ongoing since. With the official foreclosure and deed to the Housing Authority complete, O'Malley said he's ready to begin a major renovation.

An investment of $2.7 million is planned for the next two years and each unit will be renovated. O'Malley said even the basics, such as broken windows and locks, had gone unrepaired. O'Malley said facade improvements are planned as well.

"We'll make it a stable, modern and model neighborhood,'' he said.

The authority already has received a $1 million HUD grant for the project and is expecting the balance from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency.

O'Malley said about 50 percent of the complex is empty.

He said one of the first efforts will be to clear the place of drug dealers. O'Malley said residents were informed that local authorities would be closely monitoring the complex for drug activity. That meeting resulted in about 15 families vacating the premises. As other families have moved, the authority has left the units vacant.

"We have enough space to get the work going,'' said O'Malley. The effort will be done in phases.

Meanwhile, the emergency repairs undertaken so far by the Housing Authority stopped plans by Butler housing inspectors to declare the place uninhabitable.

"Basically, you could say we've been able to keep the lights on,'' O'Malley said. "It's all working out well."