
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, May 11, 1993                   TAG: 9305110450
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

COOL AIR ON WAY AT HOUSING PROJECT

Elsie Davis, 92, propped open her apartment door and closed the drapes, but there was no escaping the heat Monday afternoon inside her sixth-floor apartment at Morningside Manor.

"You can't sleep at night," she said. "Sometimes you get so hot you can hardly breathe."

Davis and other elderly residents of the city housing project have been sweating it out since the building's central air-conditioning system failed more than a month ago.

The residents got some good news Monday when repair crews finally received a replacement for a burned-out compressor. Cool air could be flowing by Thursday.

It remains unclear, however, what caused a three-week delay in ordering the compressor, which was under warranty.

Jack Sherman, maintenance director for the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority, said he notified both an air-conditioning contractor and factory representative on April 2, a day after the condenser failed.

"We have been phoning daily trying to get a compressor," he said.

But the part was not ordered from the factory until April 26.

Sherman said the delay was caused by an apparent "misunderstanding" between the contractor, G.J. Hopkins, and the factory representative. But David Kapp, an official with G.J. Hopkins, said the order was delayed because the city was required to get bids for labor involved.

Last week, Sherman told residents of Morningside Manor that the repairs would take until late May because the manufacturer did not have any compressors in stock. The timetable changed last week when the manufacturer found the part and shipped it Wednesday.

by CNB