Ceilings are crumbling in St. James Apartments.

But some of the apartment doors are open.

In Apartment 3, there was once a stripper’s pole. In the ex-bedrooms is graffiti boasting John Wayne Gacy and Michael Myers.

“They asked if they could paint,” said landlord Brent Wimpee, of Southern Kentucky Building and Remodeling Inc. “They ransacked the place.”

Wimpee said he plans to renovate St. James Apartments and rent to young professionals and senior citizens instead of college students.

On April 1, all residents received a notice from Wimpee. The notice stated that residents had until the end of the month to evacuate the building.

Now, there are only residents in the two first floor apartments.

Wimpee stated in the notice that there had been issues with code complaints and violations, related to damage done by tenants.

But some tenants fault poor management.

Memphis senior Emily Spence, one of the remaining residents, said she’s hardly seen Wimpee.

Wimpee said he goes by the apartments everyday.

Spence said that when her apartment had a roach infestation in January, she immediately tried to get help.

But the roaches multiplied, she said.

Spence said in March, she ran into Wimpee in the hallway and told him about the problem.

Wimpee said the roaches came from the basement after the residents left that apartment.

He said he had heard no complaints.

In a May 2007 Herald article, several tenants told of other poor living conditions that included a faulty fire alarm, poor heating and damaged floors.

Wimpee said he’s been worried about the boiler system.

Spence said there is hardly heating since the apartments use the same boiler system and hot water pipes from the original design.

“During the night, we just wore a lot of layers,” Spence said.

Spence said when they moved in in August, she saw potential.

Her roommate Tyler Bissmeyer, a junior from Louisville, agreed.

“The building is so neglected and disrespected,” he said.

He said other tenants have used fire extinguishers in the hall, thrown mattresses in the yard.

Bissmeyer said a lady used to come once a week to clean, but it became too much.

Bissmeyer said his apartment has separated itself from the others.

“We’ve kind of made a place of our own,” he said.

Soon, the wallpapers will be stripped and St. James will be renovated to its original 1912 form.

Wimpee said the apartments will be upscale. Instead of about $600 a month, they will cost about $1200 a month.

He said the renovation will take six to eight months.

Wimpee said he wanted to renovate the apartments when he bought the property in 2003. It took six months to get approval and financing for the renovation.

Spence said they will leave 10 days before the semester ends.

They will all pick up their belongings, sleep on friends’ couches and finish final projects.

“It’s kind of stressing me out,” she said.

Wimpee said he couldn’t do anything about the timing.

“If you can’t get out, you can’t get out,” he said.

Reach Ryan W. Hunton at news@chherald.com.