'Neighbors deserve better.' Frustration mounts over vacant Springfield apartment complex

The city of Springfield is hoping to demolish eight buildings it deemed "imminently unsafe" at the now-vacant Olde Towne Apartments at Bruns Lane and Jefferson Street.

Those cases are coursing their way through the legal system on two different fronts.

Meanwhile, frustrated neighbors have seen mounds of garbage pile up and brazen scrappers mine their way through buildings for appliances and every piece of metalwork, copper and wiring they can find.

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They also believe unhoused people have taken up residence in some of the complex's 23 buildings that includes 218 units.

One person who lives off Jefferson Street and was still on an electrical grid tied into the complex has had his electrical service interrupted four times because people are illegally cutting into lines looking for something of value.

The complex sits less than a football field away from Jane Addams Elementary School, adding to a sense of urgency for neighbors.

"It's way too close to home," admitted neighbor David Ewing. "When (the scrappers) run out of things to do in there, they're going to be in our backyards. I would suggest everyone who's in a two-block radius of this (to) have your head on a swivel."

'Neighbors deserve better'

Ward 9 Ald. Jim Donelan refers to the complex as "the albatross."

Donelan has frequently brought up the Olde Towne situation at city council meetings.

"It was a viable piece of property for decades," Donelan said recently, "and then you had a couple of different out-of-town owners that have, quite frankly, caused this problem.

"It's terrible. The neighbors deserve better."

Shortly after Mayor Misty Buscher came into office, a team meeting including several different department heads, was called regarding the Olde Towne situation.

That led to multiple meetings, said Ethan Posey, director of the Office of Community Relations, involving the Continuum of Care and Fifth Street Renaissance and Olde Towne residents in an effort to help them secure housing.

"The most important factor for us," Posey said, "was letting (the residents) know someone was on their side. To be uprooted from your home is never a positive situation."

Some residents had lived at the complex for 20-plus years and had noted the changing conditions of the units to Posey. Other families had students who faced a possible switch in schools.

Residents, Posey said, were putting up with issues out of their hands, like the stability of buildings and bedbugs, just in order to stay in the building.

"I'm hoping it plays out in a favorable way, that that place is revitalized," Posey said. "I'm hopeful it can, but I know a lot of work, time and money goes into it. With the right owner, I think it can be done."

Neighbor Ling Ling Liu is hoping so, too.

"I feel like it's such a shame because this is a great intersection, nestled in a really great community," she said. "Springfield is pretty short on housing, so I feel like we need somebody who really cares about Springfield, cares about the people who live around here to make it into a livable community."

'A trouble magnet'

Dave Fuchs admitted many of the Olde Towne units have been picked over. The Public Works director has personally called Springfield Police on scrappers.

Working with the Streets Division, concrete barricades and other reflective barricades now block the Karl Lane entrance into the complex.

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Trash buildup from exiting tenants attracted fly dumping, which was cleaned up in several rounds, Fuchs said.

"The marching order to Public Works is to be vigilant, keep an eye on it and maintain constant contact with the neighbors and get in there as often as we can," Fuchs said. "It's a real challenge."

Some neighbors think it's more than a challenge.

After law school, James Williams lived in the complex. Now he lives in a house across the street.

Williams said he is confused about why the city dragged its feet for so long on Olde Towne.

"We've seen the gradual decline to the state you see now," he said.

Clint Jeffers, another neighbor, said he thought "a nightmare scenario" could be awaiting District 186 or parents who let their kids walk to Addams Elementary.

"As long as the opportunity for people to be living in or being around or doing whatever it is they're doing in these properties, as long as that opportunity is there, there is whatever percent chance that something horrific could happen to somebody," he insisted.

"This is a golden goose to people," added Keith Tuxhorn. "It's just going to be a trouble magnet as long as there's a building here and that's bad for the neighborhood as a whole."

Rick Gorman said he applauded what Public Works was doing at Olde Towne, but that it's not the job of police or others to "babysit" the place.

In the end, he wondered if anyone would get it correct.

"This could turn into something we don't want, and everybody knows that and everybody at city hall knows that," Gorman said. "They seem to turn their backs on these things a lot. That's my biggest problem.

"I guarantee you a year from now we'll be standing here again, and this place will look the same, if not worse."

Legal matters

The city is embroiled in two different court cases with Metropolitan Commercial Bank of New York City, which foreclosed on the property, over demolition of eight units altogether.

City attorney Gregory Moredock said the case furthest along deals with five of those units and is at the appellate court. Oral arguments between the two sides could happen in the fall and while there is no time frame for when the appellate court needs to issue a ruling, Moredock is "hoping" by the end of the year.

If the city gets a favorable ruling and there's no appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court, it should be able to move quickly, Moredock said. The city has already been granted relief by the court to do asbestos testing and any remediation on the buildings.

The city budget included $500,000 for knocking down buildings at the site.

Another case involving three units is following a similar legal roadmap, Moredock added, but is earlier in the process.

Fines incurred to the city have also stacked up over code violations, to the tune of just over $688,000, including a $175,000 utility bill from City Water, Light and Power for the common areas. Water and electricity were shut off May 1 necessitating the move by residents.

"It's going to be played out in the appellate process and that isn't done overnight, unfortunately," Donelan admitted. "I really don't know why they're appealing it. I just wish they would invest the time and effort and money into the property deserves."

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Frustration mounts over Olde Towne Apartment complex in Springfield