MEMPHIS, Tenn. — There are more delays in restoring air conditioning for residents at Serenity Towers in East Memphis. Local representatives of Serenity, a government subsidized high-rise, were back in Shelby County Environmental Court Friday morning for a compliance hearing.
Lawrence Myers, a resident at Serenity Towers at Highland, says he’s encouraged to see some efforts towards fixing problems at the high-rise that was built in 1965.
“I feel like they are, I mean, the place been here a long time. I don’t think they gonna close it down,” Myers said.
But one of the biggest issues for residents is lack of air conditioning, a matter that landed the government subsidized property back in Shelby County Environmental Court for the second time in a week.
Friday, Judge Patrick Dandridge was expecting to hear the broken down AC system at Serenity was on its way to recovery, with workers scheduled to replace a cracked 400 ton Freon tank. It’s a process that has now been delayed after workers found several faulty pipe fittings called “flanges.”
Serenity’s Memphis attorney Ben Sissman says he contacted the high-rise owners in Ohio Thursday night.
“They are hunting for those ‘flanges,'” Sissman said. “The hope is they’re going to be able to find . . . they need six, they have two. They’re hoping they can find those in stock somewhere, otherwise they have to be fabricated.”
But there’s no way of knowing when those parts will arrive or when the AC system will be up and running again. Until that happens, residents are able to stay in a “cooling area” in the building’s lobby where there are portable cooling units and beverages.
The court was also told residents who are on higher floors and unable to walk to the lobby are being routinely checked on, but Assistant District Attorney Michael McCusker says some of those residents on oxygen are the most in danger.
“And they’re sitting there in the heat, using oxygen and trying to breath and it’s quite suffocating on the upper floors of that building,” McCusker said.
Both McCusker and Dandrige agreed some progress has been made with news the hot water has been restored and are willing to hold off on issuing any more fines for now. The court also addressed concerns some residents say they have been threatened with eviction if they speak to the media or appear on TV.
Dandridge set the next status report for next Tuesday morning.
