Cleanup underway at Lugar Tower after residents complained of unsanitary living conditions

INDIANAPOLIS — Major cleanup is underway at Lugar Tower.

Feces on walls, urine in stairwells and safety concerns are just some of the issues WRTV has been reporting on at Lugar Tower.

“We have pressure washed and cleaned all the stairways. Now, it’s just a matter of maintaining them each day,” Heather Turner with the Bradley Company said.

Residents have reached out to WRTV dozens of times fed up with the unsanitary conditions and drug activity throughout the property.

Their request for 24/7 security was recently answered.

“A big resident concern was that they were feeling unsafe. We were having a lot of nonresident traffic. We heard their concerns. They wanted 24-hour security, so that’s what we got,” Turner said.

Turner says even more relief is coming.

“They’ve been painting more. They’ve been putting a lot more effort in with the security and trying to polish the floors too,” Tywon Ivey said.

Turner says they concentrated first on major systems, like heat, air conditioning and water.

Now they have been going floor by floor and cleaning up the vacant apartments by painting, stripping and waxing the floors.

The Bradley Company took over management from the Indianapolis Housing Agency in December.

Turner says they have spent more than $400,000 on fixing the apartment complex so far.

“You could tell there had been a lot of deferred maintenance. You could tell there hadn’t been enough people to take care of the building,” Turner said. “It was really just a lack of manpower and organization.”

Turner says this has been a huge challenge to take on, but they’re really proud of how far they’ve come.

Ivey says living there has been far from easy.

“Over the past year there has been both ups and downs. It’s been more down, but it seems like things are starting to get a bit better,” Ivey said. “Residents have actually stepped in to try and help out.”

Turner says next on their list is the details of the building. This includes laundry rooms and occupied apartments.

The Bradley Company says it’s hired three on-site maintenance employees and it’s looking for a fourth.

The company has this message for its residents:

The on-site office is open Monday through Friday.