Demolition set for Columbia public housing complex where 2 died
Plans to demolish the Allen Benedict Court public housing complex are now underway, nearly three years after a deadly gas leak forced the evacuation of the 206-unit property.
The Columbia Housing Authority announced on Sunday night that it would start environmental testing this week in order to prepare for demolition. The testing should take about one to two weeks to complete.
Built in 1940, Allen Benedict Court is one of the nation’s oldest remaining public housing complexes. In the early years it exclusively housed Black residents and was planned as the counterpart to Gonzales Gardens, a whites-only housing project built the year before.
In January 2019, the complex was evacuated after residents Calvin Witherspoon Jr. and Derrick Roper died from carbon monoxide poisining in their apartments. A subsequent city investigation found 869 code violations at the property including missing carbon monoxide detectors.
“We understand the importance of this community to hundreds of families who lived there through the years,” Ernest W. Cromartie III, chair of the Columbia Housing Board of Commissioners, said in a press release. “We look forward to having many former residents involved in the planning process for the new development on this historic Allen Benedict Court site.“
