CAIRO, Ill. � A pair of Alexander County housing projects are set to be torn down.
The Elmwood and McBride complexes in Cairo are scheduled to be . The Alexander County Housing Authority has hired Earth Services, a Benton company, to tear down the vacant apartments at a cost of $1.9 million.
More than 180 families were forced out of the housing  due to hazardous, unlivable conditions. The complexes were built in the 1940s.
"The electrical and plumbing systems are out of date, insulation is insufficient and the cost of repairing these developments to meet basic health and safety standards exceeds $7.5 million," explained Jereon Brown, a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development spokesman. "In the end, the only responsible solution for these World War II-era buildings was to tear them down."
Tenants were given vouchers to move to any HUD complex in the country. Most families stayed in Illinois.
HUD stated that once the buildings are gone, that land will become a green space.
