Aniya Zinnerman loves the new kitchen in her family’s apartment.
After moving out for 120 days, 16-year-old Zinnerman and her mom, Lolita Dukes, 46, moved back into their Watch Court apartment on Saturday.
The unit — where they’ve lived for 10 years — looked like a new home to them.
The kitchen now has a pass-through to the living room so Mom can see what is going on in the next room.
They have a dishwasher in addition to all new appliances, new countertops, new heating and new air conditioning units. Each of the complex’s 19 units now has a covered entryway, said Damon Duncan, CEO of the Housing Authority of Elgin.
Those new entryways, landscaping and other improvements, make the housing authority apartments on Watch Court look less public housing, more market rate, Duncan said.
The renovations at Watch Court kick off a program of redoing all of the housing authority’s units in Elgin.
The rehab is part of a $17.5 million effort undertaken by the housing authority in partnership with Bear Development, Duncan said.
The full redevelopment project includes 74 units owned by the housing authority in seven locations across Elgin. The effort follows the $33.5 million renovations to the Central Park Tower and addition of the six-story Robert Gilliam building finished early this year at 120 S. State St.
The rehabilitation is funded by multiple sources, including Low Income Housing Tax Credits, Duncan said.
In preparation for the renovations at Watch Court, units at Clifford Court were left unfilled. Residents were moved to that location — or other sites — while the work was completed.
Originally, they had planned on a 90-day build, Duncan said. But once the work started, mold was found in some of the walls which needed remediation. That was completed as part of the overall project.
Once the Watch Court units are finished, plans are to move on to renovations at the Housing Authority of Elgin’s Norman Nelson Court, Wing Street, and Illinois Court buildings.
Once construction is completed there, plans are to sell off the Clifford Court property to a private developer, Duncan said.
Those units between Route 31 and the Fox River “have been stigmatized for years,” Duncan said. Their location makes it difficult for school buses to get in and out and its location near the river and detention ponds isn’t ideal for the children who live there, he added.
“We will lose money, but the board doesn’t want to be in on the Clifford Court management business,” Duncan said. “We have the opportunity now,” to get rid of the property, he said.
Watch Court was built in 1969, and has had minor renovations over the years, including new windows that were installed not too long before he came to Elgin.
“This is the first major upgrade,” since they were built, however.
There are five townhome style, two floor units in five building, ranging from one to four bedrooms per unit.
Dukes said she spent 22 years in customer service before a heart condition left her unable to work. She spends her days volunteering — helping at her daughter’s school, at the summer farmer’s market, with the District U46 Citizen’s Advisory Council, and with the Youth Leadership Academy. Aniya’s been involved with that group since middle school, her mom said.
Across the courtyard, Nora Reyes was helping her grandchildren get settled into their unit while their mom and newborn brother were at a doctor’s appointment.
Kameron, 11, Kassidy, 13, and Kailee, 14, were helping put things away. The girls said they were excited about their new little brother — Alonzo, who was born Oct. 17.
“I am very excited,” said Kailee, including the fact that they now had a dishwasher. It is a new treat for the girls — they hadn’t even taken the cardboard out of the machine to check it out it as they moved into the unit.
They’d still probably do dishes by hand “until we get the hang of the dishwasher,” she added.
Janelle Walker is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
