Yellow caution tape lies on the ground and pieces of mangled sheet rock stacked against damaged walls reveal gutted apartment rooms at Tiger Plaza. The apartment complex is one of several near campus under renovation because of Hurricane Gustav damage. Varn Villa and Tiger Manor Condominiums are also being renovated. Managers from Embassy Apartments and University Crescent said there was minimal damage, and no renovation was needed.Mary Gilder, history senior, said she was relocated to another apartment at Tiger Plaza when her apartment building roof blew off during the storm, rendering the bottom floor room uninhabitable.Gilder said she experienced problems the Tuesday after the storm when no one from the complex could reach a manager. When residents were able to reach the office the next day, they were told the complex had changed owners before the hurricane. R.W. Day owned Tiger Plaza but was recently sold, Gilder said. “The office said we were calling the wrong people,” Gilder said. “Once we got a hold of [the office], they found us a new place within the hour.” Varn Villa, another apartment complex near campus, has about 32 damaged apartments, said Chandra Giambrone, local manager. She said residents from six or seven apartment units were offered another apartment in the complex.”Less than half moved to another property we manage,” Giambrone said. “We [also] worked with other apartment managers to find housing.” Lauren Jeandron, elementary education senior and resident of Varn Villa, said her neighbor’s ceiling fell in, and the apartment complex offered them another room to live in.Nick LeBlanc, graphic design senior, said the water from the storm soaked his bedroom and ruined his bed.  LeBlanc said Varn Villa allowed residents to cancel their leases to find other living arrangements. He said he was one of the few residents who had the option of staying at the complex and moving to a new building.”They offered it to us, and the next day let us move in,” he said. Giambrone said the Varn Villa apartments would take about six months to repair because of all the roof and internal structure damage. Tiger Manor Condominiums had 81 units damaged from the storm, said Mistie Rice, Tiger Manor property director. “About 12 units were completely unlivable,” she said. “[We] were able to relocate 10 of the units’ residents to other places.”Rice said the residents who relocated and residents who chose to leave were all University students. Rylee Area, business senior, said he was moved across the street to another condominium at Tiger Manor after his apartment ceiling collapsed. Area said the building he moved into was still under construction before the hurricane hit.”This building wasn’t ready to move into,” Area said. “[They] have workers pounding outside at 7 a.m.” Rice said the target date to finish renovation on the damaged condos is Dec. 31.
 
—-
Contact Joy Lukachick at [email protected]