A longtime resident of an Oak Park senior citizens’ building told Oak Park’s village board about a series of persistent health and safety issues at the building this week.
Irma Baker, a 20-year resident of Heritage House Apartments at 201 Lake Street in the village, told the village board that the 14-story HUD-subsidized senior citizens’ building has been overrun by pests and illegal drugs.
“It has deteriorated, I mean deteriorated,” “I am really just disgusted because I know how nice the building was at one time and how it just went down all of a sudden.”
Baker is the lead organizer of a residents’ group in the building that holds monthly meetings. Residents deal with rodents, cockroaches, bed bugs, poor ventilation, HVAC issues and unauthorized people sleeping in common areas, Baker told Wednesday Journal after the meeting.
Her public comments caught the attention of village leaders.
“I certainly agree, it’s not acceptable,” Village President Vicki Scaman said.
Oak Park Police Chief Shatonya Johnson also vowed to attend the next Heritage House resident meeting following Baker’s comments.
Baker was also among the Heritage House residents who sounded the alarm about property standards issues at the building back in 2023.
The building is managed by Pacific Management Inc., a property management company with offices in River Forest and dozens of holdings across Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. Baker’s complaints echo issues brought up at the company’s downstate Sangamon Towers building in Springfield, which is also HUD-subsidized.
Senior residents at that building organized public protests of poor building conditions and retaliation for complaints by the management company, drawing the attention of U.S. Representative Nikki Budzinski last fall.
“In these conversations, residents detailed issues with mold, bed bugs, feces and urine in public areas, unreliable elevator service, lease enforcement, security doors being left open for the unhoused to enter the buildings, harassment, arson, and unresponsive management were described to my office,” heritage house
“This retaliation was alleged to have included the delayed delivery of the residents’ mail and further delay on work orders submitted to building management for their apartment unit. Due to this alleged retaliation by management, other residents were hesitant to follow suit with their own complaints.”