Building condemned at Park Forest apartment complex amid heating problems

PARK FOREST, Ill. (WLS) -- A building has been condemned in the Village of Park Forest, and residents say many more should be too at a big apartment complex where many were living without working furnaces.

They say signs of heat have been hit or miss in the Autumn Ridge Apartment Complex, that includes townhomes and several apartment buildings.

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One tenant, who does not want to be identified, says his unit has been without a working furnace since last winter.

"I have a heated blanket that I got from Walgreens and laid out on the bed and turned on high. Have a couple covers, and then I have a couple heaters that I can plug," he said.

The tenant is convinced the cold may have caused the recent death of his service dog, an English bulldog named Mixie.

People there say it's not just furnace issues that are causing almost unlivable conditions.

"I mean, the elevators don't work. We used to have security on our doors, you know, just the entrance to the building. You need the key to key now anybody can walk," resident Leonard Williams said.

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Williams says the water had been turned off for a while, because the property owner didn't pay the water bill. Williams has heat for now, but he says his furnace breaks often.

Last summer, many tenants were without working air conditioning. The Village of Park Forest stepped in to help. They have again by condemning one of the larger apartment buildings.

Village Trustee Randall White calls the situation a nightmare.

"It's limited what we actually can do," White said. "We can put sanctions. We can put suits upon them, which we've been doing, but at the same time, you have so many residents here, if the buildings totally get shut down, they're displaced. So we're caught in the middle."

People who live in the complex say reporting issues to property management does not help.

"They told me they was getting quotes," the anonymous resident said. "Then, they took then they told me that they got one...then they told me that they that they got the furnace in, and then they told me they're waiting for somebody to put it in."

The Autumn Ridge property management office continues to lease apartments, even offering a discount for a friend of referral.

No one at the office agreed to ABC7's requests comment.