Lindley Towers owner no-show at town hall week after partial building collapse in Logan
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It's been nearly one week since part of a Philadelphia apartment building collapsed, which forced 100 people to be evacuated. Many are now living in shelters.
They were hoping to get some answers Tuesday at a meeting with the building's owner, but the owner never showed up.
In Logan on Tuesday night, roughly a block from the Lindley Towers where up to 100 residents were displaced, a town hall scheduled to address crime in the area was forced to also deal with what is a housing crisis for those affected.
"I haven't been able to go to work," Latoya Heard, a Lindley Tower resident, said. "They haven't been to school. The bouncing back and forth. I'm not driving right now. It's, literally, I know I can't curse on camera, but it's been hell."
Heard has two daughters, ages 11 and 3. They've spent the last week at Samuel Fels High School until Tuesday.
"We had to leave the gymnastics today and they placed us in these unfit shelters today," Heard said.
She came to Tuesday night's town hall hoping for answers.
"They don't even know when they'll open up the building," Heard said. "They haven't even had anybody come and say, 'Hey, this is what needs to be done.'"
The city's Licenses and Inspections Commissioner Ralph DiPietro spoke at the town hall, saying that the building's owner, SBG Management -- who confirmed their attendance with the 9th District but did not show -- has hired a reputable engineering firm to begin its assessment of Lindley Towers on Wednesday.
"We don't know until the structural assessment is completed," DiPietro said. "We don't know."
Meanwhile, residents say that doesn't help them now.
They are allowed to go into the building to collect some of their personal items
Meanwhile, the city's Office of Emergency Management told CBS Philadelphia, "Lindley Towers Property Management is working with tenants directly about transitional options. Everyone in the city's direct care at the Fels shelter will have been provided an option for somewhere safe to stay."
The building is not safe and should not be occupied. A lot is weighing on this safety assessment.
Heard says that's not what she saw.
"There's some people who couldn't even be placed in the shelter today," she said. "So people, kids and stuff, not going to have a place to lay their heads tonight."
Lindley Towers residents will go to bed Tuesday without any clear expectation of when they'll be able to return to their homes.
