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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C
THURSDAY, May 23, 2019
Volume 45, Number 37
Where will they go?
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
While the Housing Au
thority of Winston-Salem
(HAWS) waits to hear
back from the U.S. Depart
ment of Housing and Ur
ban Development (HUD),
the 201 residents who call
Crystal Towers home con
tinue to cope with unsafe
living conditions. Lynn
Landingham, who was re
cently relocated to a new
unit, said the first night she
slept in her apartment she
was attacked by bedbugs.
“It’s just awful. I feel
like nobody should even be
living in that building. It’s
infested with bedbugs. It’s
a hazard to your health,”
continued Landingham.
“I just moved into a new
apartment and they didn’t
treat it for bedbugs or any
thing. After the first night,
I had to throw my mattress
and everything away.”
Landingham and other
residents said in the past
they would see an exter
minator come regularly,
but they haven’t seen any
treatments done on the
building in months. “It’s
been over a year since I’ve
seen anything done to treat
the bugs in the building,”
Landingham said. “They
don’t do anything about
bedbugs anymore.”
Landingham said
residents have also com
plained about abandoned
furniture in the hallways
and residents urinating in
elevators and other com
mon areas.
The sale of the 11-sto
ry public housing unit for
seniors and those with
disabilities was first an
nounced last summer. At
the time HAWS said the
building was in need of
more than $7 million in
repairs that they cannot
afford. HAWS Executive
Director Larry Woods told
The Chronicle the living
conditions in the build
ing were “substandard,”
with constant complaints
from residents of bedbugs,
roaches, leaks, and a faulty
elevator.
In March of this year,
The Chronicle received
word that HAWS was
in the process of closing
a deal to sale the prop
erty located on West 6th
Street behind First Bap
tist Church. According to
HAWS Vice President of
Real Estate Development,
Kevin Cheshire, at that
time they had already iden
tified the best offer, but
were waiting to hear back
from HUD. Over a month
after the sale of Crystal
Towers was expected to
be complete, the HAWS
is still waiting for the U.S.
Department of Housing
and Urban Development to
finalize the deal.
Cheshire said, “Right
now it’s just wait and see
if HUD gives us the green
light to go ahead and sign
the contract.” Last week
through text message,
Cheshire said they were
still waiting to hear back
from HUD and that he
did not know how long it
would take.
Despite the current
The sale of Crystal Towers will displace 201 Winston-Salem residents.
conditions and what seems
to be the inevitable sale
of the building, many of
the residents don’t know
where they will go when
Crystal Towers is sold and
transformed into a high-
end apartment building,
similar to others that have
taken over downtown.
Once the sale is ap
proved, HAWS will of
fer residents the option of
moving into another one-
bedroom apartment at an
other HAWS location or a
voucher for a one-bedroom
apartment, which can be
privately owned or outside
the city or state. But with a
waiting list that is already
filled, there aren’t many
vacancies available for the
201 residents of Crystal
Towers and those already
on the list.
Which raises the ques
tion: where will they go?
As a long-term solution
to the pending housing cri ¬
sis, Cheshire mentioned
the sale of Crystal Tow
ers would be used to build
smaller housing develop
ments with about 40 to 50
units. Cheshire never men
tioned what the plan would
be to house displaced resi
dents until the new devel
opments were built.
While sitting in his
lawn chair outside the
building, a long-time
resident known simply as
Thomas seemed optimistic
that HAWS would find a
place for residents of 625
W. 6th Street to go. In a
perfect world, he would
like to stay. He said al
though the building has its
problems, Crystal Towers
is in a prime location.
“I don’t want to move
because this is in a perfect
location. We’re close to
downtown, the bus stop is
right across the street. This
is a good spot.”
P.L.A.Y. music program big hit at Easton Elementary
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
Students at Easton
Elementary channeled
their inner Wolfgang Mo
zart last week when they
showed off their skills on
the violin during a concert
held in the gymnasium for
parents, faculty, and staff.
Since the beginning of
the school year, students
enrolled in the kinder
garten program at Easton
have had the opportunity
to learn beginner violin
techniques from musicians
with the Winston-Salem
Symphony. The initiative,
P.L.A.Y. (Piedmont Learn
ing Academy for Youth)
Music has been introduc
ing students to the violin
for the past three years.
According to President
and CEO of the Winston-
Salem Symphony, Mer
ritt Vale, Easton and three
other schools, Old Town,
Diggs-Latham, and Jef
ferson Elementary, partici
pate in the music program.
Each student begins
with a cardboard violin
that they make and deco
rate themselves. After
learning how to care for
their cardboard violins for
a few weeks, students then
upgrade to the real thing.
What makes the pro
gram at Easton unique is
students receive violin in
struction during the school
day. At the other partici
pating schools, P.L.A.Y.
Music is held after school.
Principal Colin Tribby
said next year they plan to
extend the program to in
clude first graders.
Tribby, who is a mu
www.wschronicle.com
sician and former music
teacher at Easton, said it
has been amazing to watch
the students grow to enjoy
the violin and grow in oth
er areas as well.
“They have become so
responsible and respectful
of the art that they’re prac
ticing and they’re only kin
dergarteners,” said Tribby.
“I can’t wait to see how
they progress next year as
first graders.”
During the concert last
week, each kindergarten
class took turns showing
what they’ve learned so
far this school year. Stu
dents in Mrs. Baker’s, Mr.
Greene’s, Mrs. Montes’
and Mrs. Amara’s classes
all wowed the crowd with
their performances.
For more information
on the Winston-Salem
Symphony or the P.L.A.Y.
Music program, visit
https://www.wssymphony.
org.
Photos by Tevin Stinson
Breely Powell-Fulton, a kindergartener at Easton Elementary, shows off her skills
during the P.L.A. E Music concert on May 14.
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