The Cutlery Block Building in the Turners Falls section of Montague is one of two buildings being converted into energy-efficient apartments for low- and moderate-income people.

Joan Bernstein remembers that not so long ago the inside of the old Crocker Bank Building in Turner Falls was just a giant icicle of garbage.

The building, a former boarding house, had been nearly destroyed in 1997 by a deliberately set fire that killed a resident. The roof eventually collapsed, exposing the inside to the elements, recalled Bernstein, who is assistant executive director of the Franklin County Regional Housing and Redevelopment Authority.

Left behind was a big mess and a tremendous eyesore near the gateway to Turners Falls.

Today, the building, along with another landmark in this small village of Montague, is being transformed into 48 one- and two-bedroom apartments for low- and moderate-income residents.

The residents of the new apartments will not only get a break on their rents, they will also be spending less on utilities.

The newly renovated Crocker and Cutlery apartment buildings feature energy-efficient appliances, lighting fixtures, heating and ventilation systems and special insulation and thermostats. These features are expected to help residents save as much as 30 percent on their utility bills.

When completely finished, the apartment buildings will be certified by the Energy Star Homes program, which is sponsored in several New England states by a consortium of electric and gas utility companies.

All homes in the program meet Energy Star standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for high levels of energy efficiency.

Since the old buildings are in a historically designated area, it was very challenging to make the apartments energy-efficient, according to Eric Wilder, the Energy Star project coordinator assigned to this project.

The buildings were in really rough shape, said Wilder.

Construction workers faced leaky roofs, drafty windows and other problems caused by years of neglect. They also had to make repairs while complying with complicated and demanding state and local historic codes.

It’s very challenging whenever you’re dealing with an old pre-existing building, said Wilder, who added that the Energy Star program focuses mostly on new construction but also gets involved in gut rehabs.

To comply with historic renovation standards, the original windows were rebuilt and outside storm panels were added and sealed to reduce air drafts.

A state-of-the-art soft foam insulation called Icynene was used to seal holes in the building materials. This special insulation makes the buildings as air-tight as possible, according to Wilder.

Western Massachusetts Electric Co. contributed roughly $140,000 worth of consultation services and rebates for the appliances, lighting fixtures, ventilation systems and insulation. According to Aprille Soderman, senior residential projects administrator for the utility, the company reviewed plans, did energy analysis and helped with the testing and certification process.

Berkshire Gas Co. also provided tens of thousands of dollars in financial incentives to upgrade the boilers and hot water systems and shared some of the costs for the insulation.

The overall construction budget was $4.5 million, said Bernstein, who, in addition to working for Franklin County’s housing authority, is the construction manager for the project.

The one-bedroom apartments will rent for $380, including heat and hot water, and the two-bedrooms will rent for $515.

The low-income tax-credit project will generate equity for the developers, who in exchange will discount rents, according to Bernstein.

There has already been great interest in the one-bedroom apartments currently being developed in the Crocker Building, said Bernstein.

People have been seeing construction moving along, she said.

The three-story Crocker Building, which housed the Crocker National Bank in the late 19th century, has commercial space on the first floor. The two top two floors will feature four apartments each.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has agreed to rent one of the offices on the first floor of the building, and a community organization has expressed interest in the other office, said Bernstein.

Just around the corner from the old bank building is the Cutlery Block Building – which was built in 1870 to house workers of the Russell Cutlery Co., the largest knife-manufacturer in the world at the time, and other town mills. The building, a series of attached brick row houses, is being converted into 40 apartments. Half will feature one- bedroom units and the other half will be two-story, two-bedroom townhouses. Currently 12 units in the building are occupied.

Rural Development Inc., a separate nonprofit housing association that spun off from the housing authority about a decade ago, is developing the apartments. The project architect is Peter Zorzi of Studio One Architects in Springfield.

Once the apartments are finished by the end of this month, the housing authority will manage the apartments.

Before the project even started, the housing authority had eyed both buildings for many years but couldn’t afford the renovation and acquisition costs. The Cutlery Block Building was used for apartments but community members had long complained that it was becoming a hangout for drug dealers.

Meanwhile, right around the corner, the Crocker Building, which is the first building drivers see after crossing the bridge into Turners Falls, had suffered from the devastating fire.

Eventually, the town got help from Historic Massachusetts, a nonprofit that secured a historic renovation grant and replaced the roof of Crocker Building. Soon after, the town gained control of the property.

In July 1999, the Crocker/Cutlery Limited Partnership acquired the Cutlery Building, which at the time had about 30 tenants.

Bernstein said about six tenants stayed and are currently living in the new apartments. The others received financial assistance to relocate. Some moved because they were ineligible to remain in the apartments due to their incomes. Others, who did not want to remain, chose to take advantage of the financial assistance and move elsewhere.

The transformation of the Crocker and Cutlery buildings is just one part of a multimillion-dollar revitalization of Turners Falls.

The Great Falls Discovery Center, a building where visitors will learn about the Connecticut River, is expected to open in town by 2003. A bicycle museum and bike trails are also expected to be ready when the center opens.

We’re really making an effort to revitalize the country, said Bernstein.