City condemns collapsing apartment building
The collapsing apartment building at 33 Mitchell street in Norwich has a hole in it that seems to be growing. The city evacuated the building last week and condemned it. (Zachary Meseck photo)
NORWICH – A Norwich apartment building was condemned this week after a partial collapse of a wall lead to the emergency evacuation last week.
The collapse still seems to be ongoing and a hole in the side of the building has doubled in sized since the initial response last week.
About six residents were at the building at the time, located at 33 Mitchell street, which is comprised of a handful of apartments. They were forced to leave Thursday night but were able to collect their belongings in the following days. They have all now moved out and will not be able to return said officials.
The city issued a letter of condemnation to the building's landlord after a certified engineer from Chenango Engineering determined the building was unsafe for habitation and in danger of collapse without urgent repairs.
“The engineer came and checked it out and wrote up a report. Based on that report the city issued the property a letter of condemnation. He has 30 days to fix it or raze the building,” explained Norwich Fire Chief Jan Papelino Wednesday.
He said the building was condemned due to a lack of structural integrity and is not safe for habitation.
Speaking of the residents, Papelino said, “They were able to get their stuff out and relocate and make other arrangements.”
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I know people that lived there and this is wrong about them being able to go back in the following days. They had 2 hours the night they got evacuated to get everything out! The people I know still have stuff in there that they are not aloud to go get.