Kelly Village also known as "Kelly Court," is a 500-unit public housing projects located in the historic Fifth Ward neighborhood of Houston. It is a part of the Houston Housing Authority.
It is Houston's second housing project built for African Americans, opening after World War II. In the 1950s 80% of Kelly Court where low income black families, many descended from rural areas in Louisiana and Mississippi.[1] By the 1970s many buildings where severely run-down and overran by drug dealers, pimps and criminals. Violent crimes such as robberies and assaults in Kelly court hit an all-time high in the early 1980s forcing police to set a curfew. Although the curfew was successful drugs still remained a problem in the project. In 1997 Kelly Court undergone several renovations and a full modernization which was completed by 1999. After modernization it was named Kelly Village and now open to mixed income families.[2] In 2012 HUD granted a quarter-million dollar to Kelly Court for security renovation. The renovation installed surveillance cameras for law enforcement to reduce crime activity.[3] In June 2013 the Housing Authority demolished the last original 63 units which were damaged by Hurricane Ike.[4]
Residents are in the Houston Independent School District, and are zoned to Bruce Elementary School,[5] Fleming Middle School,[6] and Wheatley High School.[7]
Kelly Village was previously zoned to E.O. Smith Education Center's middle school.[8] By Spring 2011 Atherton and E.O. Smith were to be consolidated.[9]