WS Chronicle

During the Committee of the Whole of the City Council meeting on Monday, March 17, Kevin Cheshire, executive director of the Housing Authority of Winston-Salem (HAWS), gave an update on the ongoing situation at Crystal Towers.  

Crystal Towers is one of 16 multifamily communities owned and operated by the Housing Authority of Winston-Salem. The 11-story high rise located on West Sixth Street is for seniors and those with disabilities.  

After initially planning to sell the building, in 2022 HAWS decided to retain the property and work with the city to make repairs. At that time, it was reported that the public housing facility for seniors and those with disabilities needed about $10 million in renovations.   

For nearly a decade, residents have been coming to the city council with complaints about the building, calling out issues with broken elevators, bed bugs, rodents and other pests, security issues and more. During the city council meeting on Monday, Feb. 17, the city chamber was once again filled with residents from Crystal Towers.  

Michael Douglas, president of the Crystal Towers Residents Council, and others made complaints about plumbing issues throughout the building. Douglas also called for Cheshire to step down. Douglas said Cheshire, who has led HAWS since 2020, doesn’t care about the residents. 

“It’s time for Kevin Cheshire to step down. He is not a compassionate individual,” Douglas continued. “We have tried our best to work with him; he don’t give a damn.”  

During an interview with The Chronicle, Cheshire said his office hasn’t received any work orders for plumbing issues. While giving his presentation to the city council last week, Cheshire doubled down on his comments. 

“I categorically reject allegations of plumbing system failures, defective work order system, non-responsiveness of management or maintenance staff, and we certainly reject accusations that nothing has been done,” Cheshire said. 

To support his claim, Cheshire went on to explain the work order system. He also provided a detailed list of work orders, when they were received and when they were completed. This calendar year, there have been 108 plumbing work orders received and 94 were closed within 24 hours; 11 plumbing work orders were received on a weekend or a holiday and were completed the next business day. Three work orders required parts ordered and were completed within three days.  

According to Cheshire, there were no open plumbing work orders in February when Douglas called for his job. “There were zero open plumbing work orders at the time of the public comment at the city council’s January meeting. There were zero open work orders at the time of the city council’s February meeting when public comments were again made,” Cheshire said.  

Cheshire also explained that the agreement between HAWS and the City of Winston-Salem to work together to make repairs was still in place. He explained that improvements at Crystal Towers have been made in phases, and over $1 million in renovations have already been completed.  

The first phase of repairs included centralizing the laundry facility to prevent water intrusion into elevator shafts and other areas of the building, as well as renovations to the front lobby, while phase two was focused on replacing the elevators.  

Phase three included meetings with residents to discuss the issues in the building and a full assessment and audit to see how much repairs will cost. Results from the full assessment are expected to be in sometime this month.  

After the assessment is completed, HAWS will begin identifying funding options, which is where the City is expected to step in to cover some of the cost. “All the community meetings have taken place, the architect and engineers have been on site, they’re just putting together the scope of work, the renderings and the cost estimates,” Cheshire said. 

The issue with aging facilities isn’t an issue that’s tethered to Winston-Salem. Across the country there are public housing developments in need of renovations. Cheshire said they’ve made progress at Crystal Towers, but it’s important to remember that the building was built in 1970 and it will take some time for all improvements to be made.  

“The reality is that we got aging public housing stock across the country … billions of dollars’ worth of capital needs and our buildings reflect that,” Cheshire said. “We’ve got several aging public housing facilities and Crystal Towers is one. The truth of the matter is these buildings didn’t get in these conditions overnight and they’re not going to be improved overnight. But I think we’ve made good incremental progress, and I think we have a good plan moving forward to continue to make improvements at Crystal Towers.”