Congressman Rick Allen’s (R-GA) efforts to save and restore the 99 year-old historic Bon Air Apartments appear to be bearing fruit.
Work crews were seen on the property, located at 2101 Walton Way, applying a fresh coat of white paint to the exterior of the structure.
Allen has visited the property numerous times over the past year after residents complained of unsafe living conditions including the presence of rats and bed bugs. Fire department inspectors also found numerous violations inside the property.
It was also discovered that homeless people had been squatting in the building’s basement and using the stairwells to relieve themselves. Nearby residents complained about witnessing drug dealing out in the open and reported of hearing gunshots coming from the property.
One resident, who did not want to be identified, said that he witnessed thieves brazenly stealing the verandah furniture from the nearby Partridge Inn and dragging the items across the street and into the Bon Air.
At the time, Nick Boehm, a representative of Redwood Housing, owner of the property, stated that the company was waiting on tax credits it had applied for through the Department of Housing and Urban Development to begin a full restoration.
However, HUD denied the company those tax credits, and Redwood Housing could not provide Allen a suitable “plan b,” which, in May, prompted the congressman to send a letter to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Marcia Fudge, demanding the federal department take action.
In his letter, Allen demanded to know if there was a negligence clause in HUD’s contract with Redwood, and “if not, why not?”
“It is beyond time that all partners in providing safe and affordable housing at this location to take action,” the letter states.
Representatives of Redwood did not return calls for comment, but Allen’s office says the congressman continues to monitor the situation and has no plans to back down from his demands that Redwood be held to compliance with the law.
The Bon Air was built on the footprint of an original wood hotel that burned and it opened in 1924 as Augusta’s “grandest of hotels.” This was during a time when Augusta was the winter playground of wealthy northerners.
The luxury hotel featured an outdoor swimming pool amid palm trees and a palm court indoors for having a cocktail before dinner.
The black tie soirees that occurred in the Bon Air Ballroom were the fêtes of fable.
The Bon Air Hotel managed its own golf course, which eventually became the Augusta Country Club of today.
Golf legend Bobby Jones was a mainstay at the hotel, but his vision of the Masters Tournament had not yet reached its international following and as Florida was more and more developed as a vacation spot, the New York society scene in Augusta faded.
In 1982, the Bon Air was converted into a Section 8 housing facility that primarily housed elderly and the disabled.
Scott Hudson is the Senior Investigative Reporter and Editorial Page Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
