A group of low-income tenants is suing the city of Joliet for racial discrimination. They allege that the city’s plan to tear down their apartment complex is in violation of federal law.

Evergreen Terrace is across from the Des Plaines River and Harrah’s Casino.

The nearly three hundred residents who live there are all part of a federal subsidized housing program. Eighty percent are black.

Teresa Davis and her four children live in the complex. She’s part of the federal lawsuit.

DAVIS: I felt as if this particular subsidy project was extremely important and vital to young mothers, seniors and people in general that need this type of property right now.

City officials have condemned the building, calling it an eyesore and open-air drug market. They want to relocate the residents…and then build a new mixed-income, less dense development.

Attorneys for the tenants say the federal housing authority also wants to keep the affordable Evergreen Terrace open.

I’m Natalie Moore…Chicago Public Radio.