Housing Authority Would Consider Closure of 28 Housing Units to Help DHS Expansion

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Perry County Housing Authority director Mike Krisfaluzy admits that he and his board of directors are only thinking out loud.

But, with the growing number of vacancies in Du Quoin's housing units, he said he would entertain a proposal to petition federal public housing regulators to close 28 units along Madison Street between East Franklin and East Olive if it would contribute to the Du Quoin Board of Education's plan to expand the high school's athletic complex.

The best use of the properties would be for athletic parking and transportation.

The director said the two obstacles would be relocating tenants who now occupy about half of 28 units and the federal paperwork involved in declaring the units surplus.

The director said he has not approached the school district, nor has there been a discussion of if and how much money would change hands in such a transaction.

The district would like to buy the nearby Big "S" Transports property immediately south of VanMetre, but talks are said to be at an impasse.

The director said his thinking is driven by the fact that all public bodies in the community need to identify the best use of all the town's resources.