Fire Aftermath Drags On

"Buenaventura," my Spanish-English dictionary says, means "fortune" or "good luck."

But the owner of this North Avenue restaurant has been out of luck since a suspicious fire on Dec. 17 closed the business and several others. Customers looking for food or a haircut on the block instead found barricades and a 24-hour police watch.

A gathering of officials and contractors on Dec. 19 pointed to possible early demolition of the building. In March 2010 another North Avenue building, deemed in danger of collapse, was taken down in one day after the declaration. Officials made similar estimations of the building that was gutted in the Dec. 17 fire, causing the police watch with the Mobile Command Center and a battery of high-intensity lights at night.

Businesses across the street were slowed down by the street closing, but not shut. As the days wore on without action, barbers posted their phone numbers in the window of a popular hair salon in an effort to keep contact with customers. (Click on any image to enlarge.)

Now three weeks have passed. A chain-link barrier surrounds the front of the building, where broken glass and debris are still strewn. The Mobile Command Center is gone. The power cord for the massive emergency lights is unplugged. But the block between Park Avenue and Gavett Place is still blocked off and businesses next to the fire scene are still closed.

Plaintalker learned on Friday that city officials are taking the position that the owner, Dexter Humphrey, is responsible for the demolition. Humphrey's address in the tax book is the same as the fire-damaged building, which except for one restaurant on the ground floor was vacant and boarded up by the city for  many months. Just days before the fire, Plaintalker was tracing the route that occupants of new Park Avenue apartments would walk to the train station and recorded this evidence of someone breaking in to the building.

 The entire North Avenue Historic District between Park and Watchung avenues - the city's original commercial base across from the train station - was supposed to be consolidated for redevelopment in 2006 by acquisition and stabilization of its historic buildings. But then the focus shifted to the PNC Bank block. Some owners on North Avenue said they recently received offers again to sell their properties, but they declined. Now they wonder what's next.

Meanwhile, the tally for loss of business and cost of the 24-hour police guard is not known. There has been no public explanation of why things are still dragging on in the current  situation three weeks after the fire or what the arson investigation revealed. Could this literally be a trial by fire for new City Administrator Eric Berry? A lot of people are hoping for answers soon.

--Bernice