Posted on 07/02/2003 4:33:34 PM PDT by JustPiper
The city filed a lawsuit today against the owners and managers of the apartment building where 13 people died in a weekend porch collapse, arguing that the porch was too big, built with the wrong materials and lacked the proper construction permit.
The city asked for hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties.
Also today, hundreds of friends and family members attended funerals for several of the victims, remembering them as kind, caring and helpful.
According to the city's lawsuit, the porch jutted out 11 feet from the building -- 1 foot more than is allowed under city codes. It also was 81 square feet larger than the 150 square feet allowed, the city argued.
The complaint also alleged the three-story apartment building was illegally converted from five units to three.
The city asked for a court order requiring immediate replacement of the porch and is seeking up to $500 a day for each violation, which could total hundreds of thousands of dollars because the porch was built in 1998.
``Until there's a porch system, nobody can live there because there's no back exits and entrances,'' said Jennifer Hoyle, city Law Department spokeswoman.
The Law Department filed the complaint in Housing Court against management company LG Properties; Philip Pappas, president of LG Properties; Restoration Specialists LLC; Thomas Libby, mortgagee of the premises; and George Koutroumos, the contractor who built the porch.
Pappas is scheduled to return on Thursday from a trip to Canada, according to a woman who answered the phone Tuesday at LG Properties. LG Properties today referred calls to Mike Aufrecht, an attorney for Pappas, who would not talk to a reporter from The Associated Press. However, he had a receptionist who would not give her name read a brief statement.
``We have already given all information that we have to the press and we await Mr. Pappas' return for futher comment,'' the woman said.
The city is investigating whether the porch was overloaded when it collapsed about 12:30 a.m. Sunday during a party at the apartment building in Lincoln Park, an affluent neighborhood popular with young professionals.
About 50 people -- most in their early 20s -- were on a third-floor porch when it fell, causing a chain reaction that sent porches on the second and first floor plummeting to the basement.
Seven men and six women died, most of them crushed on the lower porches. At least 57 people were injured.
Officials issued a permit in 1998 to LG Properties to install furnaces, air conditioners and water heaters at the building -- but not a porch, the city said.
Police have said they do not plan to file criminal charges.
The Buildings Department is inspecting 42 other buildings owned or managed by Pappas and LG Properties, but the results were not available Wednesday, said Breelyn Pete, spokeswoman for the Buildings Department.
In Evansville, Ind., today, 25-year-old Margaret Haynie was recognized for her calm demeanor and bright smile. She had worked at Bank One for three years.
``She was always there to help people out,'' said her boss and mentor, Marsha Cruzan.
``She was known to pull all-nighters to get the work done and she loved doing it.'' In Winnetka, Phil Borhis remembered 19-year-old Shea Fitzgerald, a lineman at Northern Illinois University.
``We lost a great football player, but we also lost a good person and a good friend to the players,'' said Borhis, head athletic trainer at NIU.
Zack Domont, 20, of Glencoe, grew up with Fitzgerald.
``He was a gentle giant. His size looked overpowering but if you knew him he was a kind and caring guy,'' Domont said.
Claire Blumenthal described Muhammed Hameeduddin, 25, an actuary from Chicago, as delightful and considerate.
``He was brilliant. He was a delightful young man who was looking forward with great anticipation for doing for his family,'' she said.
????
Changed from what to what?
Help us out here.
I kinda like this typo ;)
Pappas, owner of 42 Chicago buildings, could face a penalty of $500 a day. He remains on vacation in rural Canada, apparently unaware of Sunday's tragedy.
Police said Tuesday they have accounted for 114 people who were on the three levels of the porch structure when it pancaked to the ground.
Whether the Wrightwood porch was safely built--and whether the city's annual inspection of the building last fall was complete enough--will be left to an outside expert hired to rebuild the porch piece-by-piece.
The city's code requires a porch to bear 100 pounds per square foot of 'live load,' meaning people, and another 25 pounds of 'dead load,' meaning the building materials.
Officials estimated the third-floor deck at the Wrightwood building was 13 by 20 feet. If constructed according to the code, it should have been able to hold at least 32,500 pounds--or 162 people weighing 200 pounds--and probably double that, experts told the Sun-Times.
Did the owner hire a contractor who skipped the building permit phase and failed to follow code? If so, what were the contractual arrangements?
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