Horizon West Condo owners were forced from their homes a year ago. They still need help, tenants say.
Dec. 2 marked one year since Horizon West Condominium owners were given 15 minutes to evacuate their homes, left to scramble for a new place to live, while grappling with equity loss and mortgage payments on their abandoned condos.
Those former condo residents are still seeking justice one year later.
The Horizon West Homeowners Association, made up of those forcibly displaced from their homes last year after fire officials deemed the building at risk of "imminent collapse," met outside of Waukesha City Hall Friday to show that they won't be forgotten.
Among those outside of city hall were former residents RJ and Patricia Esposito, who held signs urging the city to remember those evacuated from the 48-unit building.
"We seem to have been forgotten," RJ said. "If a tornado came through and 48 houses were demolished and 48 families were left with nothing, the whole city would rally around them, and that isn't happening with us. And we need that help. We can't do it ourselves."
The association's $17 million lawsuit against Travelers Indemnity Company for failing to pay owners' claims was dismissed last month after U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman sided with the insurance company. Now, they've filed for appeal, and are facing new legal fees.
Former residents are also faced with the cost of the city's order to demolish the building, which could amount to tens of thousands of dollars.
"We just want some empathy from the city," Patricia said.
Waukesha City Administrator Kevin Lahner said in a statement that while officials' hearts go out to those displaced from Horizon West, the city must follow standard protocol for a building that poses a danger to the community.
"While the situation is tragic, the city must treat this process as we would any other privately owned building that is unfit for human occupancy and has been ordered to be razed," Lahner said.
The raze order will be considered on Jan. 3. If approved, the city "will bid the project, hire a contractor and raze the building," the statement said.
Last December, Jeremiah Gorhan was on his way home from work when he found out that he'd have to leave his home.
"My whole world got turned upside down," said Gorhan, who lived in the building for two years.
As far as help from the city, he wishes they would at least help with the cost of the raze order.
"It's one thing to absolve people's property and make them start over, but to ask them to leave 30 to 50 grand on the company in the process, it's just unreal," Gorhan said.
The one-year anniversary brought back feelings of grief for Mary O'Herron. She lived in the building for 30 years, and her sister, Fran O'Herron, moved into her own unit in the building for three years before the evacuation.
"It's good to see others that have been through the same thing and have some camaraderie," Mary said. "It's been a rough year, but we're getting through it."
Fran moved in after she retired and had just completed renovations on her new home when she was told she had to leave.
"I think people just need to know we're still here," Fran said. "We still have a long road ahead of us in terms of tearing the building down. That's a fight with the city. We don't have $2 million to take it down, and they're not coming up with alternatives for us."
While homeowners outside of city hall agreed city officials haven't done enough to help them, they expressed gratitude for the Waukesha community itself for their support and donations to displaced residents' GoFundMe (bit.ly/3EWxSbL).
"Waukesha residents have been amazing," said Ben Chudy, vice president of the Horizon West Homeowners Association. "Our GoFundMe has raised over $15,000. We appreciate that from everybody."
The Horizon West community will not be dismissed, Chudy said.
"We'll appeal. We'll continue to fight, we'll gather, we'll raise awareness," he said. "You can't just forget about Horizon West."
Quinn Clark can be emailed at QClark@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Quinn_A_Clark.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Displace Horizon West Waukesha condo owners still looking for answers
