Mar Vista Gardens Given $2 Million by HUD : Housing: The 601-unit project is one of six in Los Angeles receiving federal funds to modernize their aging facilities.

As part of a major effort to modernize the city’s aging housing projects, Mar Vista Gardens has been awarded about $2 million in federal funds to remodel kitchens and bathrooms, replace old electrical and plumbing fixtures, give each unit a fresh coat of paint and build a community center.

Mar Vista, a 601-unit project that is home to more than 2,500 people, is one of eight Los Angeles housing projects sharing in a $14.5-million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to refurbish low-income apartments.

Mar Vista received the grant to complete renovations that were begun with an earlier $6-million grant.

The effort to modernize the 35-year-old apartment complex for low-income families has not been easy. The contractor hired under the original grant was terminated this year for failing to complete the remodeling, leaving some apartments without linoleum floors and with exposed pipes. A new contractor will have to be hired.

Work to complete remodeling should begin within the next month and be completed sometime next year, Housing Authority officials said.

“We have had some difficulty completing the work because a contractor wasn’t performing in a timely manner, so we had to terminate the contract and ask that the work be completed under a bond,” said Joseph Gelletich, assistant executive director of the Housing Authority.

The delay has caused some concern among tenants, many of whom have been living for a year with their apartments in a half-completed state.

“There is nothing modern about this work, it’s primitive,” said Odell Hadley, a longtime Mar Vista Gardens resident who has been active in the community. “The work has been shoddy, this is poor work. They don’t care what kind of material they put in here.”

There was a black tar substance on the floor in Hadley’s kitchen where the linoleum had been ripped up for replacement more than a year ago. “You can’t walk on the floor in your bare feet, and if you wear socks, you’ll never get them clean,” he said.

Hadley also complained that some of the plates protecting the light switches were broken and that the cabinets installed in the kitchen were made of cheap plywood.

Faustin Gonzales, who directs the Housing Authority’s modernization effort, said Dalton Construction Co. of Compton was unable to complete its contract because of financial problems.

“The contractor completed about 70% of the work and left the rest in random stages of development,” he said. Dalton Construction could not be reached for comment.

Gonzales said the Housing Authority became aware of the company’s financial difficulties as work on the project slowed to a trickle, vendors were complaining about not being paid for supplies and employees were not receiving salaries.

James Loving, project coordinator, said the contract was terminated at a point when it was felt tenants would suffer the least.

“None of the tenants were left where they would suffer major inconvenience,” Loving said. “Most of the units are substantially complete and the units are functional. We made sure that no units got demolished. Mostly everything was in finished stage and going through the cosmetic changes.”

In the future, he said, contract schedules will be monitored more closely and the Housing Authority plans to act sooner if contractors fail to live up to their obligations.

In addition to fix-up projects, the Housing Authority plans to spend nearly $500,000 on the construction of a community center where the city’s Community Development Department plans to provide job training and counseling services for children “at risk.”

“Within the center we plan to have all the services required by these children to help them put their lives together,” Gonzales said. “It will be a partnership between the residents, the Housing Authority and the city’s Community Development Department.”