The last of the three Boynton Towers to be renovated on Chattanooga’s Westside will soon begin housing residents again after a $13 million upgrade refurbished the 50-year-old apartments targeted at housing low- and moderate-income seniors.
The restoration replaced stained floors, leaking windows and shabby kitchens with brighter, newer and more energy-efficient units.
The Chattanooga Housing Authority, which used federal HUD grants to pay for the $13 million costs of the upgrades at the three towers, will celebrate the completion of the 5-year renovation project on Saturday. The final 87-unit tower at 959 Boynton Drive was finished this week and qualified tenants from CHA’s waiting list will soon begin moving into the renovated complex.
Bennie Haynes, the president of the Boynton Towers residents council, has lived in one of the high-rise units off West M.L. King Boulevard for nearly two decades and said tenants are pleased to see the new improvements and the end of the construction work.
“Most everybody thinks the improvements have been a good thing and were needed to these buildings since there hadn’t previously been any major work done on these units since they were built in 1971,” Haynes said. “The only problem I gather from residents is they can’t any longer open their windows, which some of them used to like to do.”