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City cites two West Philly businesses destroyed by city-contracted demolition crew
Why did demolition crew taking apart Elena's Soul Lounge damage Gary's Nails and Cedar Park Café?
City cites two West Philly businesses destroyed by city-contracted demolition crew
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*correction/update below*
People throughout West Philadelphia were devastated to watch Elena's Soul Lounge, a reputedly century-old meeting place for drinks, music and food drawing people from both east and west of Cedar Park, burn to the ground on Christmas Eve. What happened later that week, however, is confounding: The demolition crew taking apart Elena's severely damaged the two neighboring businesses, Gary's Nails and the new-but-beloved Cedar Park Cafe, affectionately known to some as "breakfast-lunch."
The fire that destroyed Elena's had left both businesses largely intact; the cafe even opened the next day. Today, Gary's and Cedar Park Cafe's roofs are caved in, and orange violation notices from the Department of Licenses and Inspections are pasted to their facades: they have 30 days, as of Dec. 28, to repair or demolish their buildings.
The irony is that L&I hired the company that demolished Elena's — the same company that ultimately sent Elena's walls crashing through the two adjacent roofs. L&I spokesperson Maura Kennedy contends the city was forced to act when the building owner did not take the legally required action on their own, but she refused to say whether the demolition company might have acted recklessly —though she implied that they did not.
"It was a pretty large blaze," says Kennedy. "The firefighters put it out, and there were a couple of load- bearing walls that were standing, but were still in pretty serious risk of collapse … and in the course of taking them down some debris did hit both of the buildings."
But based on the account of one witness, and a short video the witness provided, the demolition was a haphazard job. An excavator was used to gut the building from the front, leaving the side walls standing.
The excavator then repeatedly knocked against the top of the Elena's wall adjacent to Gary's. The top of the wall then fell into Elena's, according to the witness, while everything below it tumbled onto the roof of Gary's. The same thing, he was told by others, had already happened to Cedar Park Cafe's roof before he arrived. L&I staff in vests were on site.
Cedar Park Café after destructive demolition. Photo by Neal Santos.
It was a windy day, and nothing was set up to protect the adjacent businesses. According to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, in the case of “structure[s] to be demolished … damaged by fire, flood, explosion … appropriate measures, including bracing and shoring of walls and floors, shall be taken to protect workers and any adjacent structures."
The witness, who requested anonymity, says that it looked like a hack job.
"Everything I watched and witnessed didn't look right."
Kennedy refused to explain to City Paper what sort of oversight is exercised during city-contracted demolitions to ensure the integrity of neighboring buildings.
Multiple neighbors also point out told City Paper that Cedar Park Cafe was open on Christmas Day, and the day after. Monica Fanya, who lives across Cedar Park provided City Paper with a photo she took on Christmas: Cedar Park Cafe, "open" sign blaring, next to Elena's still-standing burnt out shell.
"I was so psyched it was open, I took a photo. Yes, I was THAT excited," writes Fanya, who like many West Philadelphians flocked to the cafe's affordably priced egg sandwiches, home fries and coffee.
But Vincent Whittacre, the owner of nearby Gold Standard Cafe, contacted City Paper to say that Cedar Park Café was not open for business after the fire. Whittacre says that cafe employees had to leave the building in a hurry--and left the lights and "open" sign on.
So if the cafe were open, L&I's story smells funny on yet another level: If Elena's walls posed an inherent danger, and were not carelessly knocked down by the demolition crew, why were customers allowed to enter cafe the day after the fire? If L&I's contention is correct, those diners could have been crushed under the cafe's roof.
Elena's owner Algernon Allen tells City Paper that L&I contracted JPC Group Inc. to undertake the demolition, but JPC told City Paper that an outfit called Gama Wrecking did the job. L&I would not tell CP who they did hire. Two workers at the site on Tuesday identified themselves as Gama employees, but said that JPC had orchestrated the demolition. This makes sense: the excavator used in the demolition had a JPC logo pasted on the back.
"I don't think they knew what they was doing," one Gama worker told me.
University City District's Project Rehab, which helps property owners in the area navigate city bureaucracy, and helps secure financing and legal assistance, has reached out to help the business owners rebuild. But the city has not told Cedar Park residents why the demolition crew they hired destroyed the two adjacent businesses.
City Paper was unable to reach the owners of Cedar Park Cafe or Gary's Nails.
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