Chattanooga Housing Authority Executive Director Betsy McCright said the agency "had all the money in the bank" for a project updating the James A. Henry School. Then, she said, "Unfortunately, we found that we had lost $7.9 million in funding, which created a significant gap."
Ms. McCright told members of the City Council at a budget hearing that city support is needed to complete the project.
She said the James A. Henry Hub will include space for 117 Head Start seats, a Boys and Girls Club, a food bank, several medical clinics operated by Erlanger, and other services.
The school will be remodeled and a 4,500-square-foot section added.
She said the project is 53 percent complete and is slated to be finished by the end of December.
Ms. McCright said of the project, "We were able to leverage $21 million in needed services from organizations around the city."