Inside Elliot Twins, Minneapolis' only air-conditioned public high rise
MINNEAPOLIS -- Imagine trying to sleep this week without air conditioning.
That's the uncomfortable reality for thousands across the Twin Cities, including nearly all the people that live in public housing.
Elliot Twins is unlike any other public high rise in the city of Minneapolis. It underwent a $27 million renovation that added 10 accessible apartments, and AC.
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"Today it's 100 degrees out there, and the air conditioning is working. It's wonderful being in here," said Abdi Warsame, CEO of Minneapolis Public Housing.
Warsame says the renovations done at Elliot Twins is what he hopes for all 42 public apartment buildings across the city.
"Our folks at Elliot Twins are very fortunate, but other folks need support and the help that they deserve, especially on a warm day," he said. "As our climate warms and our city warms, this is gonna be an issue that we need to tackle. But we have a prototype in Elliot Twins. This can be done with all across our high rises."
Mary McGovern, president of the Minneapolis Highrise Representative Council, remembers the days before the renovation.
"On a day like this, I used to live in an efficiency apartment, and it was unbearable with no air conditioning," McGovern said. "The sweat would be coming down your face, it was that hot. You had to go out in the hallway just to get the breeze coming, to get it on you."
She's proud to call Elliot Twins home, but worries about others. More than 5,000 others are living in public high rises, with this dangerously high heat, and no central air.
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"It takes all levels of government to give us the support that we need for us to utilize the tools that we have in front of us in order to deliver to all our residents, as we have delivered in Elliot Twins," Warsame said.
Minneapolis Public Housing is working to get the money from lawmakers to update more units.
If you don't have AC, click here for a list of free places you can cool down.
