How you can help: Residents still in hotel after Hagerstown building was condemned

Efforts are underway to repair a downtown Hagerstown building and provide temporary housing for people who were displaced after it was condemned.

"We have currently secured housing for them at a hotel," David Shuster, CEO of Horizon Goodwill Industries, said Monday. "We're still looking at all the options to try to help the folks out."

Goodwill is seeking donations to help with the effort.

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About two dozen people had to leave their apartments last month after the city condemned The Georgian. The city cited "numerous violations" in the building, which is at Potomac and Antietam streets. The Dog House Restaurant on the first floor also had to close.

The owner, Brian O'Reilly of BCO Management Co., said the four-story building is structurally sound, and that he's working to correct the violations and reopen it as soon as possible.

In an email Tuesday, Hagerstown officials reported that the city is "still awaiting a proposal for repairs from the owner. We are ready to expedite processes to the extent that we can once we receive it."

Some of the violations date back months, and O'Reilly said he believed they had already been addressed. Then, in August, a water heater failed in a vacant third-floor room, and flooded the floors below.

"The damage created significant fire separation issues that rendered the structure unsafe in the event of an emergency situation," the city reported in an email.

O'Reilly said he's been working to make repairs.

"We want the building to reopen safely, but we also hope we can start work as soon as possible, as the restaurant and the displaced residents are enduring a very difficult situation," O'Reilly wrote in an email Monday.

"I want to say I'm very grateful to the Goodwill team for the timely assistance to the residents. They have been great at managing and assisting with a very unfortunate and upsetting situation for the residents."

O'Reilly wrote that he has paid for about two weeks' of housing at a local hotel, and Goodwill has paid for about another week. Residents do not owe any rent payments until the building is reopened, O'Reilly wrote, "so they can save the funds they would have used for October rent, and hopefully that will help with temporary housing."

The owner, renters and nonprofits are in a "unique situation," Shuster said.

Because of the circumstances, renters insurance doesn't cover the costs of staying elsewhere, he said.

"They also don't seem to qualify for a lot of the emergency assistance programs. A significant number of them are employed, lease-holding folks," he said.

"They were stable enough to have a lease and be paying rent. (But) you would not expect them to have a lot of emergency resources."

How you can help

So far, Shuster said, the hotel seems like the best option.

Goodwill is asking for the community's help in providing more time at the hotel.

People, congregations and organizations can donate via Goodwill's website: https://horizongoodwill.org/financial-donations/.

As for the restaurant, The Dog House operated from a sidewalk stand in front of the building Friday during the Thunder in the Square car show. According to its Facebook page, it also was present for the Dash for Downs Syndrome 5K in Chambersburg, Pa., on Sunday, and the business plans to be at the Harvest Hoedown in Fairgrounds Park on Saturday.

"I am doing my absolute best to try to help everyone who is impacted, but it is very difficult," O'Reilly wrote in the email. "This is also very difficult for the restaurant owners, for whom the business is their livelihood, and we have requested that the city prioritize allowing us to reopen the restaurant ASAP as soon as we are finished with the work in their space."

What about the building?

In Monday's email, O'Reilly wrote that he's been meeting virtually with residents. He and the new property manager have noted "several things we need to correct before the building reopens."

"All the work that needs to be done to correct the safety issues at the building is already under contract, and the general contractor submitted a permit application with a structural engineer report on Sunday (Sept 25)," he wrote.

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The city's code enforcement office asked for more information before reviewing the permit. O'Reilly wrote that he's working to provide that information.

"I'm trying to make sure this building can re-open safely, and soon," he wrote.

Mike Lewis covers business, the economy and other issues. Follow Mike on Twitter: @MiLewis.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Residents staying in hotel after Hagerstown building was condemned