A spokesman for the mayor’s office told West Philly Local today that the demolition of the Windermere Court Apartments at 48th and Walnut Streets in West Philadelphia will begin Monday.
“The city and the owner have come to agreement and the building demolition will commence on Monday,” said Mark McDonald, a spokesman in Mayor Michael Nutter’s office. “The property owner is the one to talk to about the retrieval of anything inside the building. It is structurally unsound and has been declared imminently dangerous by Licenses and Inspections. But again, it’s under the owner’s control.”
The Windermere Court building was partially destroyed by fire on January 10. Residents have been pressing city officials and the owners of the building for access to retrieve their belongings and search for pets, which they have been denied. A barbed wire fence was erected around much of the building.
Many residents have organized their own security for the building to watch over what might remain from their belongings and to look for pets that were left behind during the fire and may still be alive.
“My biggest frustration is that we know that there are still pets in there alive,” said Lara Figueroa, a former Windermere resident.
Residents and the animal rescue group City Kitties are holding a rally tomorrow at 2 p.m. to protest the lack of information and cooperation from the building’s owners, who were not available for comment.
February 12th, 2011 at 1:37 am
Please support your neighbors. Come to the Rally at 48th and Walnut 2/12/2011 at 2pm. Contact your representative about your concerns regarding the security of your own rights as well as ours in situations like these!
A summary of complaints and in justices to reference at tomorrow’s rally:
MAIN TOPICS:
1. THE STATE & FATE OF THE BUILDING; 2. ANSWERS FROM THE CITY & OWNERS; 3. NO EMERGENCY COORDINATION & ORGANIZATION
SUB TOPICS:
* · Several officials assured us we’d be able to remove salvageable belonging but have since backtracked & passed the buck.
* · The owners have been MIA & lied about their control of the building.
* · L&I officials have given us several contradicting statements, including statements that have contradicted their own reports.
* · L&I has not kept residents apprised of any new developments
* · L&I has not given us the opportunity to have our own party represent our interest in the 6 closed door meetings between them, the owners & their insurance company to decide the fate of the building.
* · Many people have been allowed throughout the building for professional reasons, but we haven’t been allowed to have our possessions retrieved by professionals, if not ourselves.
* · Some have keys to the building & can enter/exit at their own will.
* · Eddie has been allowed to enter the building to retrieve tools at least twice, one time, staying inside the building for a few hours.
* · The building’s security: Inadequate protection before and NO protection now.
* · The owner of the security company entered the building 3x/day.
* · We should have been able to arrange for retrieval of our belongings IMMEDIATELY after it was no longer a federal crime scene.
* · Many of our previously salvageable possessions have been destroyed and/or taken by weather and looters.
* · Residents, whose bikes are locked outside, should be able to retrieve them, if the weather hasn’t damaged them too much.
February 12th, 2011 at 1:38 am
Continued:
# · Many people are still without adequate housing because of the difficult & time consuming requirements to receive aid.
# · Donations have been extremely slow to reach us, if they do.
# · Many are still without essential needs
# · Donations should go to Walnut Hill Community Association
# · We want our own investigator inside the building
# · Why didn’t the city have our names and contact information?
# · Who was responsible for collecting residents’ names & contact info for the city immediately after the fire?
# · Why has no one seen it fit to contact us about the decisions being made that affect us?
# · After the fire, we were given the number of the Office of Supportive Housing and left to our own devices.
# · When searching for answers we were sent in circles between L&I & the Fire Marshals office for conflicting answers or none at all.
# · There was no organization or coordination beyond the 1st day
# · All of the names and numbers supposedly collected by the city the night of the fire have disappeared.
February 12th, 2011 at 1:57 pm
There must be someone out there who understands that pets are family members. Rescue groups are ready to enter the building and save any animals still alive. The animals are afaid to come out of what is left of their homes. Will someone please step in and help homeless residents recover their beloved pet family members before it is too late. Please give the rescue groups access to the Windermere.
February 14th, 2011 at 1:35 pm
HAVE THE LOCAL AND NATIONAL NEWSPAPERS BEEN INFORMED ABOUT THIS?! All it takes is ONE NEWS-TRUCK at the scene!!
These pets MUST NOT DIE!! THIS IS AGAINST THE LAW!!!
February 14th, 2011 at 4:49 pm
Oh my gosh, this is horrible! I cannot imagine losing my home AND my furry family too! If the “owners” of this place are MIA then they have given up their right to say what goes on here. Let these people get their things and start again.