Myott Tee

Myott Park Housing (aka Wintergreen Apartments)  

A bold 1970s social experiment, Myott Park (later Wintergreen Apartments) opened in 1975 at North 51st and Curtis Avenue on a sprawling 14-acre site just outside city limits. Architect Neil Astle designed 219 wood-frame units in 28 terraced buildings with cathedral ceilings, redwood decks, and an inward-facing “community house” meant to foster integration—roughly half the residents were Black, half white, with income-based rents. The innovative ski-lodge-style complex was hailed early on as a fresh alternative to traditional projects. Within years, however, management changes, racial tensions, gang activity, fires, and severe code violations turned it into a high-crime eyesore. After multiple fires and an absentee landlord’s neglect, the entire complex was condemned and demolished in 2006. The vacant land sat for nearly two decades before becoming Bluestem Prairie, Habitat for Humanity’s 88-home affordable ownership neighborhood anchored by a revitalized Myott Park.