Bankhead Courts demolished

Metro Atlanta

Bankhead Courts demolished

Photos: Demolition of Bankhead Courts, a housing project in Atlanta, on Feb. 24, 2010.

Crews demolish what used to be Bankhead Courts in Atlanta, a housing project near the boundary line of Fulton and Cobb counties. The Atlanta Housing Authority has been demolishing the city's housing projects one by one and seeking to replace them with mixed-income developments.

An oven sits in a vacant unit in Bankhead Courts. The 386-unit housing project opened in 1971.

A blue tarp blows in the wind from the upper level of Bankhead Courts. The housing project was often a battleground between drug dealers who terrorized tenants and community leaders who tried to fight back with anti-crime initiatives such as "midnight basketball."

The view from a vacant unit. Housing authority chief Renee Glover has led the demolition effort, which is intended to reduce the concentration of poverty. Residents of demolished developments get vouchers to cut the cost of rent and utilities in their new homes.

The housing authority in July 2008 got approval from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to demolish Thomasville Heights, Bankhead Courts, Herndon Homes and Hollywood Courts, for a total of more than 1,200 apartments. Bowen Homes was torn down last summer.

Crime was such a problem in Bankhead Courts in the late 1980s that MARTA briefly stopped bus service and postal carriers suspended mail delivery for a few days.

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Crews demolish what used to be Bankhead Courts in Atlanta, a housing project near the boundary line of Fulton and Cobb counties. The Atlanta Housing Authority has been demolishing the city's housing projects one by one and seeking to replace them with mixed-income developments.

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