COMMUNITY SERVANT

Frank Wilcox retires from a career of service to his community. Safe, decent, affordable housing for every citizen is the main goal of MHA and the ideal to which he dedicated his career.

ARTICLE BY KAY STOTHART RECTOR & PHOTOGRAPHY KELLY MOORE CLARK

A red light glows in Monroe’s nighttime skyline. The letters “FT” are illuminated atop the Frances Tower building, an art deco style high-rise in the heart of downtown. The historic building that was once the Hotel Frances is now home to the Frances Tower Retirement Community, one of seven retirement complexes operated by the Monroe Housing Authority.

The availability of safe, affordable housing for elderly citizens in Ouachita Parish is just one of many things accomplished by Frank Wilcox during his career. Before retiring in August 2019, Wilcox served as Executive Director of the Monroe Housing Authority for 43 years.

Wilcox grew up in Bald Knob, Arkansas, a small town north of Little Rock near the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. He attended the University of Central Arkansas in Conway where he met his wife, Marianne, in a dance class. The two were married in 1964, shortly after college graduation, and Frank went to work for the North Little Rock Urban Renewal Agency.

As part of that agency, Wilcox worked on projects throughout North Little Rock to expand commercial development and revitalize the community. He began as a staff assistant and worked his way up to a supervisory role in charge of property management and relocation. While at NLRURA, Wilcox was involved in developing the site where the Verizon Arena, a multi-purpose event and entertainment venue, is now located.

Wilcox had been working with North Little Rock Urban Renewal for 6 years when he was invited to Louisiana for a meeting with Mayor Jack Howard and other city officials. Monroe’s city government was taking on urban renewal projects and wanted Wilcox to work with them.

At the time of that meeting, Frank and Marianne were expecting their second child and were reluctant to leave family and friends in Arkansas. Wilcox declined the offer, but stayed in touch with Monroe city leaders. The next year, he accepted Howard’s offer and the Wilcox family relocated to Monroe. “It turned out to be a really good move for us,” Wilcox says now.

“It was an exciting time in Monroe,” recalls Wilcox of his early years on the job. “Jack Howard was Mayor, and there was a lot of stuff going on here.” The city purchased the land fronting the Ouachita River across from the Ouachita Parish Courthouse. The Army Corp of Engineers constructed a folding retaining wall along the riverbank on South Grand Street. “They needed me because I had expertise in relocation and federal law, which is why they recruited me,” Wilcox says.

Through the newly formed Monroe Redevelopment Agency, an independent agency controlled by the city council, Wilcox oversaw the riverfront project as well as other renovations in downtown Monroe. He led the city’s infrastructure expansion efforts, including the addition of Lamy Lane and Washington Street connectors, and the construction of the Powell Street Community Center.

In 1972, just a year after Wilcox relocated his family to work for the City of Monroe, four-term Mayor Jack Howard was defeated in his bid for re-election by Ralph Troy. “It all worked out great though,” recalls Wilcox. “Ralph Troy and I bonded and he actually helped me take my career to another level. We did a lot of traveling and I was able to get ideas and a vision of what we were able to do here.”

At the end of Ralph Troy’s term as Mayor, Wilcox took on a new challenge as director of the Monroe Housing Authority. Unlike a city department, MHA is a public entity which operates independently of the cities of Monroe and West Monroe. It receives no funds from the city governments or the State of Louisiana. MHA is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and by monies generated through rental income.

“The Housing Authority was a mess when I took it over. Properties were run down and in deplorable condition. I didn’t realize how bad it was when I accepted the job. But we persevered,” says Wilcox. “I was fortunate to have really good board members, people like R.D. Farr and Henry Bonner, who were dedicated and cared about the work we were doing.”

“There was no elderly housing,” recalls Wilcox. “It was so important for us to develop housing for our elderly. That was a big part of our vision.” The Frances Tower building downtown, owned at the time by the Roman Catholic Diocese, was available, and Wilcox believed it could be converted to meet their needs. “After about a year of struggling with HUD regulations and funding and with a lot of political help from Congressman Otto Passman and Senator Russell Long, we finally got the Frances Tower project funded,” Wilcox recalls. MHA bought and renovated the 11-story downtown landmark in 1978. “That was my first big project,” says Wilcox. “I’d done a lot of projects, but none of this magnitude. I was so excited about that.”

Misfortune struck in late 1978, just one week before the grand opening of the Frances Tower Retirement Community. “The Troy & Nichols building, which was across the street behind Central Bank, caught on fire and burned to the ground. The heat was so tremendous that when the fire trucks were spraying water, it came roaring back and got our windows,” Wilcox says. “It broke nearly all the windows on the Desiard Street side of the Frances. We were delayed another month or so. Not a good start.”

Ultimately, the Frances Tower project was hugely successful. Today it contains 130 one-bedroom, one-bath apartments, with amenities that include a library, fitness center, outdoor courtyard and a beautifully appointed lobby with antique furnishings and a grand piano. “Converting Frances Tower into a retirement community is one of my great prides,” Wilcox notes.

Under Wilcox’s direction, MHA continued to add housing options for senior citizens in Ouachita Parish. A second historic downtown building—the former Ouachita Parish High School at 501 South Grand Street–was repurposed for retirement living. Although listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Ouachita Grand Plaza building had badly deteriorated. To save the structure, it was donated to the City of Monroe, which in turn granted MHA a 99-year lease. MHA secured federal funding for renovations. In cooperation with the Ouachita Parish Council on Aging, another downtown landmark was successfully transformed into homes for the elderly.

Bringing the Ouachita Grand Plaza project to fruition was difficult, as Wilcox recalls. “We ran into all kinds of roadblocks,” he says. “It took us three years to get it funded. It was in horrible shape, but the architect we hired felt it could be repaired.” Wilcox credits former Mayor Bob Powell, who recognized the building’s historical significance, with helping to make that project successful. “It’s just a gorgeous building,” says Wilcox of the Ouachita Grand Plaza. It now contains 91 separate apartments with expansive views of downtown and an enclosed courtyard and gardens.

In addition to the two downtown complexes, there are five other MHA-run retirement communities throughout the area: Claiborne Creek is a 140 unit complex off Highway 80 in West Monroe, with beautiful landscaping and a creek running through the property. All residents have access to amenities like the fitness center, library and computer center. Chauvin Pointe off of Highway 165 in North Monroe has 139 cottage-style homes as well as a Community Center with meeting areas, a fitness center and beauty salon. McKeen Plaza is conveniently located in midtown Monroe with 100 affordable one bedroom apartments and an atrium that serves as a library and gathering place for residents. South Pointe, located across from the Louisiana Purchase Gardens and Zoo, has 120 cottage apartments, a Community Center and fitness facility, with winding, paved walking trails, two lakes well-stocked with fish and resident ducks to feed. Passman Plaza in the Lakeshore area just off Highway 80 also has a lake for fishing, walking trails and meeting and exercise facilities.

“Allowing the elderly to age with dignity is so important,” insists Wilcox. With multiple quality retirement communities, MHA affords older citizens the opportunity to spend their final years in a safe, comfortable environment.

Besides elderly housing, another of Wilcox’s goals as director of MHA was to upgrade and increase the number of homes for low-income families. When he took over in the late 1970s, the family units that were available were in terrible condition. The agency was severely underfunded and often overlooked by the Department of Housing and Urban Development authorities in New Orleans, according to Wilcox.

“The New Orleans HUD office had been giving priority to New Orleans, of course. They were right there in front of them and they could see what they needed. And New Orleans had all the political clout,” Wilcox says. “So I hired a photographer and we took pictures of everything and sent it out to the political delegation. They got so upset with me, but we got funded the next year.

Under Wilcox’s leadership, six family housing developments in Ouachita Parish were completely renovated and modernized. The most recently built complex is Robinson Place, with three, four and five bedroom duplex and single-family homes, a newly landscaped park, pavilion and playground facilities. Other family housing complexes managed by MHA are the Burg Jones Community, Foster Heights, Breece-Lock, Johnson Carver Terrace and Miller Square.

Additional housing is made available to local families and individuals through the Housing Choice Voucher Program administered by MHA. Commonly known as Section 8, this rental assistance program provides subsidies to local landlords on behalf of low-income families and individuals living in privately owned housing. Eligibility for vouchers is based on federal income guidelines. Vouchers help those eligible afford safe, decent housing. Wilcox was instrumental in developing the Voucher Program in Monroe, adding more than 1,500 housing options for low-income citizens.

In keeping with MHA’s mission to provide services that improve the quality of life for its residents, Wilcox and MHA board members and staff partnered with Louisiana Delta Community College to construct Family Learning Centers in its public housing communities. At the Family Learning Centers, residents have access to computers and can participate in educational programs with a goal of self-sufficiency.

More recently, MHA added Early Childhood Education services to its family housing communities. Through the Literacy Plus Initiative, a collaborative effort between MHA, the Children’s Coalition for Northeast Louisiana and Monroe City Schools. The vision of this project is to increase the literacy rates of young minority children who reside in low-income housing.

With his affable personality and commitment to MHA’s mission, Wilcox was able to effectively collaborate with a succession of mayors, legislators and civic leaders who served during his tenure. Wilcox was active in the Louisiana Housing Association and served as President of that organization. He was appointed by Governor Dave Treen to serve on the Louisiana Housing Finance Agency. “It was a great experience and I picked up so much information that helped us later on,” Wilcox remembers. “The relationships that I developed with others in the community were so important.”

Wilcox’s dedication to the growth and success of MHA was also recognized on the national level. The agency was awarded the prestigious “Sustainable Performance Award” by HUD, and each year from 1992 to 2018 MHA was designated as a “High Performer in Public Housing Management.” Wilcox was personally designated as a “Fellow” of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials and was awarded the Charles L. Farris Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Southwest NAHRO chapter.

In a proclamation presented to Wilcox upon his retirement, MHA board members applauded him for his “unwavering dedication” and “exceptional and compassionate contributions” to the Monroe community. In recognition of Wilcox’s commitment to MHA and its residents, the MHA Board also established an educational scholarship program in his honor. Known as the “Frank L. Wilcox Emerging Leaders’ Scholarship Program,” it will provide educational opportunities for low-income families residing in MHA housing communities.

In addition to substantial upgrades and renovations to existing housing units, the number of homes provided by MHA tripled during Wilcox’s years as Executive Director. Today, MHA offers 3500 housing options for families, retirees and those with special needs. More than 6,000 individuals have homes that are made possible through MHA.

Safe, decent, affordable housing for every citizen is the main goal of MHA and the ideal to which Wilcox dedicated his career. “It has been a rewarding job,” Wilcox says of his role as director of MHA. “I have been fortunate to be able to do my Christian duty every day at work. Hopefully, it made a difference.”