Update: As usual, Lorraine Swanson of Lake Effect News has a detailed and timely report on the fire. Read about it here.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Another Fire At Lawrence House, Today
Update: As usual, Lorraine Swanson of Lake Effect News has a detailed and timely report on the fire. Read about it here.
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"I moved in March 1 and totally regret it. This place is a major crack house with a lot of drug dealers, prostitution and panhandling." -- Peter Ballinger
ReplyDeletelets hope that vengeful crack dealers don't retaliate in order to protect their den.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone have any information on the history of this property?
ReplyDeleteFrom reading the various news stories over the past few years, it sounds like it has gone from being a fairly run down Sr. citizens home to a totally delapadted hole filled with an uncontrolled criminal element. I have never stepped inside (nor would I given the smell wofting out of the front door when you walk by), but this is the perception that has formed in my mind after reading all the stories and observing the constant stream of fire, police, and EMS vehicles that always seem to be parked out front.
2 fires in 4 months. Sounds downright dangerous.
Do the people who live around there put any pressure on anyone (building owner, residents, alderman) to do anything about that place, or is it just another property to put on the long list of those that plague our neighborhood and threaten people's safety and security?
I hope those affected yesterday are ok and the investigators find the exact cause of the fire - whether it be a building issue or caused by a resident.
ReplyDeleteI'm still interested in knowing whether or not the owners still intend on selling it or if they've taken it off the market.
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=26372
I'd imagine they'd have to drop their asking prices a bit given the condition of the place.
I hope that everyone that was affected is ok and that the investigators find teh exact cause of the fire - whether it be a building issue or caused by a resident.
ReplyDeleteI'd also like to know if the owners are still try to sell:
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=26372
I'd imagine they would need to drop their asking price given the condition of the place.
ONE is not part of the solution, they are part of the problem. ONE and Shiller want to pack as many low income people into Uptown as they possibly can. And to achieve that goal, they have let buildings like Lawrence House off the hook for years on safety and building violations.
ReplyDeleteOh, but what about ONE’s recent protests? Its all to shine up Shiller’s image in advance of the election. Another four years of Shiller = another four years of substandard housing. That is until we have a true tragedy on our hands. Hey ONE and Shiller… how many people have to die before you really do something about the problems in Uptown?
Get a good look at Lawrence House and you will see what Wilson Yard will be like in 10 years or less. This place needs to be shut down immediately for the safety of the residence and the community. Are we going to wait until the next fire that destroys the entire building and surrounding buildings and causes fatalities? I understaant that the law abiding, caring and respectful low income of the community need affordable housing, but this is definitely not the answer! Shut it down!
ReplyDeleteWhat ever happened to the City swap teams that use to inspect buildings & businesses some years ago here in Uptown and would really rip them apart for any violations, unsafe and unhealthy conditions. The team consisted of like 10 inspectors all at one time as electrical, plumbing, heat & AC, fire, health that also had two cops that where ready to arrest any owner who would stand in their way to let the inspection be done on their property. I am sure a bouildings like this and many others would have been ticketd and fined and forced these slumlords to give proper safe and healthy living conditions that renters pay for.
ReplyDeleteWhen I ran a business we would get a visit from the City of Chicago swat team that consisted of 6 different inspectors, electrical, plumbing, heating & Ac, roofing, fire, general safety with two cops to arrest anyone that would not allow inspection of every inch of your business or large dwelling complex. They use to come twice a year at unknown times. You would think with all the unsafe and unhealthy conditions in this building someone would have called the city and they would have responded to get this slumlord to correct the problem that are present. The CPD and fire department where all over inside and yet nothing is done to the many violations they seen.
ReplyDeleteI think you are referring to the Strategic Housing Taskforce.
ReplyDeleteAnd, if there are criminal operating in or around the building, the 20th District Police Department can use there Neighborhood Relations Dept to focus special attention on the building as "criminal housing". They have used to criminal housing statutes to close down buildings, even CHA scattered site housing buildings.
HopelessInUptown - perfectly said. But you're too generous.
ReplyDeleteI give it 2 winters for the first fire, which will result in boarded windows for six to 36 months, 5 years for the overall structure to start looking aged and 7 years to just run down and a nesting ground for the gangbangers and misfits who don't deserve a penny of my property tax dollars.
But rest assured, the currency exchange will still be in operation.
What goes on in this place is worse than what's being described. The best description I can think of is it's like a bad John Waters movie. If you're not insane when you move in, you certainly will be when you move out...
ReplyDeleteSORRY FOR THE CAPS, I'M NOT YELLING.
ReplyDeleteTHE TENANTS OR A REP FOR THEM NEEDS TO CONTACT THE ILLINOIS TENANTS UNION. THEY GO AFTER LANDLORDS WHO DO NOT TAKE CARE OF CODE VIOLATIONS IN THIER BUILDINGS. I DID IT SEVERAL YEARS AGO FOR MOLD. WHEN THE INSPECTORS CAME OUT, THEY FOUND MANY MORE VIOLATIONS THAN THE MOLD. FOR EACH VIOLATION, I HAD TO ONLY PAY A PORTION OF THE ORIGINAL RENT UNTIL THE VIOLATIONS WERE FIXED. THE LANDLORD DECIDED TO NOT FOLLOW THE TENANTS RIGHTS IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO, TRIED TO SUE US, LOST AND IT COST HER $30,000. PLUS, SHE STILL HAD TO FIX THE CODE VIOLATIONS.
I RECOMMEND THE ILLINOIS TENANTS UNION WITHOUT HESITATION.
The fire department came and inspected this building today. A LOT of firemen were there.
ReplyDeleteThe more I learn about what's going on with this building, the more disgusted I get. I agree with O.N.E. and their goals. I think the building should be sold to somebody who actually cares about it. It has potential to be a great place in the community. Not everytyhing can be yuppies and c ondos, you know.
ReplyDeleteLosingFaith -- What are you talking about? Who exactly is telling you that Lawrence House should be "yuppies and condos"? Are you arguing a straw man here?
ReplyDeleteFor years, Lawrence House was decent senior living. It was shabby chic. Seniors were happy there. There were dances and activities for them.
Sometime in the last few years, it ceased to be senior living and became low-income housing that doesn't do a very good job of screening for the mentally ill, the drug dealers and the criminally violent. I don't know why they change was made, or if it happened with the restaurant owners' taking over. I just know that it has ceased to be a safe place for seniors, and extremely unsafe.
Now ONE is protesting the conditions there, which no one thinks are okay. In that, it's a disgrace.
Is it the owners' fault? That's ONE's position. But I'd like to know why the decision was made to change Lawrence House to low-income housing rather than a genteel retirement building for seniors. It was fine just a few years ago.
I've run into people on the Red Line that are pro-Uptown update that don't want anything like low income housing ANYWHERE in the neighborhood. I agree there is a glut of too many social services concentrated in one area but this place could be good for respectable low income folks. Just the dirtbags have got to go
ReplyDelete"Just the dirtbags"? who exactly gets to pick?
ReplyDeleteAnd dear lord, enough with the class warfare! I for one am sick and tired of the constant friction between those of us who work for a living, be they cabdrivers and the guys who own my corner bodega, or more educated professionals, and the section 8 housing. Yes, I know, I'm a fascist, but EVERYONE deserves a safe place to live, work and do business.
And it's not just Helen! I live just over the line in Mary Ann Smith's ward where it spills over below Foster, and she's just as much to blame.
Lawrence House needs to go. Yes please, close it down, rehab it and re-purpose it. We have subsidized senior housing at Argyle & Sheridan with zero complaints, to my knowledge, so I know this is possible.
Can we con someone into buying Somerset or that place at Wilson and Sheridan while they're at it?
This will sound conceited, but I've been around the block a few times and I'm well qualified to judge who the dirtbags are. They're the ones dealing/smoking crack, selling their prescription meds, and/or fencing freshly stolen merchandise in front of the building. They're the ones whom the cops are called on constantly for chronic domestic violence disturbances. Those dirtbags.
ReplyDelete