In the wake of the collapse of a commercial building façade last week on Harrison Street, the village government will follow two courses of action. It has already cited and fined the property owner and his contractor. Now the village will take a hard look at its own building department to determine if it has performed adequately over a period of years in inspecting the owner’s multiple buildings, some of them long vacant.
Village Manager Tom Barwin said officials plan to treat the incident just as seriously as if someone was killed. Village hall plans to inspect all of owner Chris Kleronomos’ properties in the village to ensure that similar situations don’t exist elsewhere.
“We have a landlord here who has a rather lengthy reputation for delay and excuse, and I think moving forward, we want to know how that behavior led to this,” Barwin said.
Last Wednesday, the façade of a one-story property came tumbling down, injuring a passerby, damaging two cars, and shutting down Harrison near Lombard overnight. The property, at 201-211 Harrison, was under construction, with plans to put a Chinese restaurant in three storefronts at the corner.
Village hall announced Monday that it has issued 10 citations to Kleronomos, and the contractor, Built Max Construction of Chicago, each of which carries a fine of up to $750 (see sidebar). The violations range from working without a permit to failing to compensate for structural issues during construction.
Calls to Kleronomos have not been returned, and he declined to comment when spotted on Harrison Street last week.
The village believes the collapse was likely caused by “a loss of load-bearing support for the steel beams along the front of the building. This occurred when sections of terra cotta facing were removed from the brick piers where the steel beams rested, weakening the piers,” according to a village press release.
In addition, village hall is investigating the business practices of Kleronomos whose family has owned several Harrison Street properties since the 1930s. Vacancies have long plagued the commercial holdings with one large parcel, a former Pan’s grocery store, having now been vacant for some 25 years.
Barwin also said the village will start an independent review and third-party analysis of how the Oak Park Building and Property Standards Department applied local laws and conducted inspections at the property.
Steve Witt, the director of the building department, did not return calls seeking comment. But Barwin said the village is compiling a list of third-party experts to help them review how the department handled the situation.
“The review is going to be vigorous, and approached as if somebody were seriously hurt, because it very easily could have happened, but for the grace of God and some blind luck,” Barwin said.
Oak Parker John McCloskey had his Honda Civic parked right in front of the building at the time the façade collapsed. He was sitting on a bench across the street chatting with a friend, when he watched in amazement as the wall toppled over, followed by a “wave” of dust.
He was scrambling that day to get a rental car, as he and his wife were planning to drive up to Michigan last Friday. McCloskey wants village hall to go after Kleronomos hard, after seeing a couple of kids nearly hit with some of the debris.
“I’d like this Mr. Kleronomos to go to jail, if at all possible,” McCloskey said.
Oak Parker Jack Tavolacci was strolling to his first day of work at the Buzz Café when he heard a “huge bang.” He turned the corner to see the front of the building right next to his work falling apart.
“Bricks just kind of fell off the building,” said Tavolacci, 17. “Pretty wild.”
Daniel Harrington, the receiver who’s been managing the foreclosed property for only a couple of weeks, said cleanup crews arrived on the scene at about 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday night, and police gave the OK for the street to reopen a little after 5 a.m. Thursday morning.
A sidewalk in front of the building, from Lombard to the alley just west, remains closed, along with the parking spots just north. The lone tenant remaining in the building, Prodigy Glassworks, has been asked to vacate until the property is safe to occupy. The store’s owner, Matt Kwilas, declined to comment the day of the incident, and could not be reached for comment on Monday.
Harrington said their main priority is getting the tenants back in the building, running their businesses. But that could take awhile. He hoped to go before a judge this week for permission to fix up 201-211 Harrison enough to make it habitable (according to court records, he only has permission to spend up to $5,000 to maintain the property, without a judge’s approval). He asked for a similar judicial OK last week, in order to secure the building.
It could take at least three weeks just to hire an architect, meet with the building department, and secure bids to fix up the building, Harrington said, but he hopes the work will be fast tracked. But every time he thinks the property’s problems have been fully identified, something else pops up.
“Every time we turn a corner at this building, we find more problems,” Harrington said. “There’s a reason why that front fell off, and we can’t find it, and that’s what’s bothering everybody.”
Chicago Community Bank filed to foreclose on six properties along Harrison that are owned by Kleronomos back in January and February. The longtime property owner had taken out a $3.5 million construction loan back in 2005, and put up seven different properties as collateral. Kleronomos stopped making payments on the loan in May 2010, the bank claims, and since then, he has accrued $461,544 in unpaid interest and late fees.
According to court records, a receiver has been appointed for only one of the seven properties as of Monday. An attorney with the bank declined to comment.