A Harrison Street business owner is organizing a rally to bring the community together, months after a building collapsed, leaving three Oak Park businesses homeless.
November will mark three months since the front of the one-story property at 201-211 Harrison came tumbling down, injuring one and temporarily closing the street. Frustrated that businesses are still unable to reopen, Pamela Penney, who owns an art shop down the street, is staging a protest to mark the three-month anniversary.
“We’re just trying to unite,” said Penney, who witnessed the façade’s collapse. “I stood there alone watching that building fall down, and I want to stand together with my community and see something go back up.”
The property is currently in foreclosure, after the River Forest resident who owns it, Chris Kleronomos, fell behind on a $3.5 million construction loan, for which he put 201-211 Harrison up as collateral. The building is now in receivership, and in September, the court-appointed receiver told Wednesday Journal that Kleronomos had been ordered to stay out of the building.
Reached Tuesday, the receiver, Dan Harrington, declined to comment, saying he had gotten “in trouble” for previous comments he made to the media.
“Nobody’s talking to anybody until we get this matter resolved,” he said. “At this point, there’s nothing new, nothing old. We’re trying to get things resolved.”
Village Manager Tom Barwin said the village has pushed Chicago Community Bank to hurry up and finish the repairs. An architect was recently given the green light to draw up plans for the fix-up, which should be submitted to village hall in the next 10 days. If all goes smoothly, Barwin said, work could start in the next month, and the building could be ready to occupy in the next 60 days.
“We’ve been really working hard to persuade everybody involved that these are unique circumstances, and people have to step up, do the right thing, put the legal quagmire on the backburner and act responsibly here,” Barwin said.
A Chinese restaurant was planning to open in the building before it collapsed, and Briejo Restaurant had planned to retool and reopen with a different name and concept.
Prodigy Glassworks was the only business that was open during the collapse. Three months later, owner Matt Kwilas is beyond frustrated that he can’t get back to blowing glass and making a living. He’s confused why it’s taking so long to push Kleronomos completely out of the picture, and why repairs seem to be taking forever.
He’s been heartened, though, by the community’s show of support, which, in addition to the planned protest, also included two recent fundraisers.
“With all the bureaucracy going on and this slumlord of a landlord, it is so frustrating,” he said. “But it is so wonderful that people are willing to go out on a limb for people either that they don’t know, or that they just want their community back, their street back.”
Kleronomos did not immediately return a call on Tuesday morning, and has not returned calls since the collapse on Aug. 10.
Penney, who was formerly the president of the Oak Park Arts District business association, called the corner a “scar” on Harrison Street. She said business owners have been discouraged by the village’s slowness in sprucing up the area, and the building collapse just brought things to a boil.
The protest will start at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, and Penney is asking attendees to write letters to village hall, showing their support.
“My hope is it’s a positive event,” she said. “I don’t have a great deal of time, and I thought if I put aside a half hour and pulled together some of my community, it may make a difference.