As Implementation Manager, EJP has worked with the Chattanooga Housing Authority and the City of Chattanooga to raise support and funds for the Westside Evolves Project. Alongside the redevelopment of the James A. Henry school, the first phase expects to build first on unoccupied land, allowing for no displacement of current residents.
A major redevelopment of Chattanooga’s Westside Neighborhood is being planned by the Chattanooga Housing Authority.
Hamilton County is poised to approve a two million dollar contribution to the project, whose investments may total nearly a billion dollars.
“It’s basically an eight to ten year plan that contemplates to revitalize one hundred and thirty acres in downtown Chattanooga,” said Betsy McCright, Executive Director of the Chattanooga Housing Authority.
The County’s two million dollars will go toward phase one, which includes a five point seven million dollars renovation of James A Henry School and an expansion of the Head Start program.
“The idea is to take seats from seats from the city’s YFD center, which eventually will be demolished, and they’ll move those sixty seats over to James A Henry School — they’ll add another forty — so there will be one hundred head start seats available for young students,” said Robin Derryberry, Spokeperson for Chattanooga Housing Authority.
As part of the redevelopment, over seventeen hundred units of new housing will be built in the area.
Existing subsidized housing such as College Hill Courts will be replaced with new units, but existing housing will only be demolished after the new housing has been constructed.
“The first demolition that’s done will be of the Youth and Family Development Center. Once that’s done, that’s where the first units will go up, and you’ll have approximately one hundred and nineteen units that will go up in that space. So, no one is going to be displaced from their units — no one — until there’s some place for them to go within the community. And, like I said, it’s a one for one replacement,” said Derryberry.
To view the entire news report, visit https://www.wdef.com/westside-neighborhood-to-be-redeveloped/.
By: Chris Guin
July 14, 2022