YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Mayor Jamael Tito Brown said there is “a plan” to bring International Towers residents home as soon as he gets word it is safe.
“We’re waiting anxiously,” Brown said. “When we confirm that there is a safe time for them to return, there will be a process, a plan for everyone to return.”
That will happen within a few days, he said, but he did not give an exact start date. “It’s going day by day,” Brown said of the Realty Tower demolition project, which began on July 12. The contractor is Moderalli Excavating Inc. of Poland.
“If he tells me tomorrow or Thursday, there will be a plan to get residents back into their homes,” the mayor added.
Residents of the International Towers had to be evacuated from their homes in mid-June after a gas explosion occurred in the neighboring Realty Tower on May 28. A structural engineer hired by the city concluded that Realty was in “imminent danger of collapse” without reconstruction measures.
Meanwhile, five more lawsuits were filed in Mahoning County court on Monday related to the explosion that killed one man, an employee at the Chase bank branch on the ground floor, and its aftermath.
Each alleges negligence and seeks unspecified damages. Enbridge Inc. and its affiliates Greenheart Companies, YO Properties 47 and LY Property Management are listed as defendants. Attorney Brian Kopp filed all of the lawsuits.
A spokeswoman for YO Properties, which owned Realty Tower, and LY Property Management, the property manager, declined to comment.
The other defendants could not be reached for comment.
A lawsuit was filed by 20 former residents of the Realty Tower.
It stated that despite YO Properties and LY Property Management regaining control of the building, the plaintiffs “remained barred from entering the Realty Tower. As a result, most, if not all, of their personal belongings could not be recovered.”
It was further stated that the companies had failed to secure the premises, which made theft and looting possible.
The other four lawsuits were filed by people injured in the explosion and their family members. Caroline Pizarro of Youngstown, who was injured in the explosion, and her daughter Ariadne Jimenez Pizarro filed suit, as did Austintown residents Christina D. Will, who was injured, and her husband Richard Will. Lawsuits were also filed by Susie A. Page and Vito E. Colella, both of whom lived in the Realty Tower.
Since their evacuation, residents of the International Towers have been living in hotels, assisted living facilities and other locations with the help of area social services agencies, led by the United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley.
“Many of our social services are on the ground every day,” Brown said. “They work with them.”
He thanked these authorities and the residents’ communities for their work and cooperation.
The Stambaugh Building, across from Realty on Federal Street, has been closed since the explosion. This building houses the DoubleTree by Hilton Youngstown Downtown hotel and Bistro 1907, among others.
These businesses may be able to reopen and residents of the International Towers may be able to return home once the building has been demolished to four floors, reducing the collapse zone.
No date has been announced for this achievement, but it seems that the time is getting closer.
“Today they’re cutting,” Brown said. “The reason they’re cutting is because they’re looking for a place to put the fire escape – when they pull it, they want a place for it to land.”
The emergency exit is located on the side of Realty facing the International Towers.
Brown said he has seen great progress since last Thursday.
“The problem is we’re all anxious to get residents home, to get our downtown open, to get our hotel open,” he said. “Every day I expect it to be today. … But we’re seeing progress, and that’s encouraging to me.”
Pictured above: Demolition work continued on the Realty Tower in downtown Youngstown on Monday. The International Towers are at left.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
