PARK FOREST, Ailing. – With temperatures anticipated to climb on Sunday, stress ranges are again on the rise for residents of a south suburban condo complicated, most of whom are nonetheless with out air-con—even after administration pledged swift repairs.
What we all know:
Day after day, residents of the Autumn Ridge Residences in Park Forest have described little to no progress in restoring their failed air-con.
The complicated is house to dozens of households who’re determined for some reduction.
“I feel it was anger, then it was frustration, and now it is simply despair,” mentioned Village of Park Forest Trustee Randall White.
It has been 28 days because the air-con was scheduled to kick on, however most residents are nonetheless ready for cool air. Administration had promised renters the A/C would begin flowing on June 1. However regardless of final weekend’s warmth wave, residents say solely a portion of 1 constructing has working A/C—out of 4 complete towers.
“Actually, they solely have A/C operating in a single constructing and it is solely in two-thirds of the constructing,” mentioned Derin Curtis, resident. “It is non-existent in my constructing.”
“I am a single mother, I’ve my daughter, she’s 11, however I additionally deal with my disabled brother,” added Celina Lawson, resident.
Lawson’s brother has a number of sclerosis and can’t be in scorching and humid situations for lengthy intervals of time, she says. She shares that the Park Forest Police Division introduced her a window unit, because of a donation from an Aurora girl.
Over the past week, the neighborhood has rallied collectively—buying followers, window models, and supporting one another with assist from native pastors, together with Trustee White.
“We have been make-shifting, doing a type of MacGyver factor, that we’ll put the window models on the ground, we’ll shut the sliding door, and we’ll tape a plastic bag prime to backside simply to type of discover some sort of reduction,” White mentioned.
“This by far, watching the folks within the situations of a few of these flats, it goes with out saying, they need assistance,” mentioned Stringer Harris, neighborhood activist.
As soon as once more, FOX 32’s Kasey Chronis visited the townhome on the property the place residents say a member of administration lives however there was no reply on the door. FOX 32’s calls, textual content messages, and emails additionally went unreturned.
“To my understanding, inside the final 5 years, there’s been seven completely different property managers right here however two completely different house owners,” Harris mentioned.
The newest message despatched to renters got here Friday. It learn: “HVAC has knowledgeable us that one other half is required for the A/C. They are going to return Monday to proceed the work. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.”
“That is been a nightmare in itself,” White mentioned.
White says he has been making an attempt to achieve the house owners of the complicated.
“We discovered them on Fb, we tried to ship a message after which the entire Fb web page was taken down,” White defined.
Some residents share that they haven’t any intention of renewing their leases.
“Now we have to go, the A/C factor is barely the tip of the iceberg,” Curtis mentioned.
“I’m shifting expeditiously, I will probably be out of right here hopefully by the top of July,” Lawson added.
Final week, the Village of Park Forest hit possession with a number of fines.
RELATED: No A/C, no solutions: Park Forest renters plead for reduction as warmth intensifies
RELATED: A/C at Park Forest flats partially restored amid warmth wave, officers say
What’s subsequent:
In an announcement issued Saturday, a spokesman for the Village of Park Forest mentioned, partly:
“We’re monitoring the state of affairs very intently. We hope that Autumn Ridge continues to do the fitting factor and will get everybody’s air-con up and operating.”
The Park Forest Police Station (200 Lakewood Blvd., Park Forest, IL 60466) is open 24/7 as a cooling heart, together with Village Corridor (350 Victory Dr., Park Forest, IL 60466) throughout common enterprise hours.
If you would like to assist Autumn Ridge residents, you are inspired to e mail Trustee White at whiterandall141@gmail.com to inquire about methods that you may assist.
