August 5-11, 2004

city beat

The Wall, Not Crumblin' Down

City L&I inspectors find that a wall, said to be near collapse, at the Alden Park apartments isn't endangering residents' lives.

Three weeks ago, City Paper reported that Michael Johnson, a former maintenance man at the Alden Park apartments in East Falls, believed that a wall in the basement of the apartment complex was on the verge of collapse and posed a grave danger to the building's tenants. Inspectors with the city's Department of Licenses and Inspections have since visited the site, and according to spokesperson Andrea Swan, Johnson's report has been ruled "unfounded." They said the wall in question is not a load-bearing wall. In any case, Alden Park plans to have the wall fixed. But Johnson, who claims he has been the subject of harassment by his landlord and former employer, remains unconvinced: "If the wall isn't dangerous, why are they getting it fixed?"

The two parties will meet in court Aug. 6.

—Doron Taussig