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Condo owners' long wait is over

Residents of Town Apartments North return to a new building - which thankfully has a hydrant nearby.

By ANNE LINDBERG
Published November 13, 2005

LEALMAN - Amid the mouth-watering smell of barbecued ribs and the smiles on every face, the sign hanging beneath the American flag said it all: "Welcome home, Nautilus."

After two years and almost four months, the mostly senior residents of the Nautilus building at Town Apartments North had come back to their condominiums. When they last left on a Saturday afternoon in late June 2003, the building was in flames and firefighters from eight agencies were struggling to find enough water to douse the blaze.

At the end of that terrible day, the residents had lost everything except the clothes they were wearing when the fire broke out. Since then, they have struggled not only to find alternate housing but also to force Allstate Insurance Co., which held the blanket policy on Town Apartments North, to pay for all restoration. Residents of the Nautilus had to borrow money to get their homes restored. The struggle with Allstate continues. The residents are still facing a shortfall as well as increased bills.

But for a few hours Wednesday, all that was put aside while they celebrated their return, courtesy of Belfor USA, which rebuilt the Nautilus.

"We're so excited," Shirley Day said. Day was president of the Nautilus Homeowners Association during the rebuilding. Tuesday, the day before the celebration, was her last in office.

Day paused for a minute before the celebration began to reminisce about Oct. 21, the day the county issued its okay for residents to return to the building.

The prearranged signal for that event was the hanging of an American flag that once flew above the Capitol in Washington, D.C. When the flag was hung from the midpoint of the building, Day said people who had been lounging in the pool began cheering. By Wednesday's celebratory barbecue, 21 people had moved back into the building, which was still getting some finishing touches, such as adjustments to shelving.

One of those, 97-year-old Josie Hale, was so eager to return home that she refused to wait for her furniture to be delivered. She also spurned offers from neighbors to spend the night with them. She did accept a pillow and a blanket, then slept on the floor.

"My bed wasn't ready," Hale said. "I was glad to sleep on the floor here. ... It's wonderful."

Day said Hale just wanted to be back home. "She's a very determined little lady," Day said.

But some, like Bill Campbell, were unable to return. Campbell has bought a condo in the I building at the complex. Some people, including his wife, Lorraine, died in the intervening two years. Although they were up in age, many Nautilus residents blame the deaths on the stress of the fire's aftermath.

Before the food was served Wednesday, the remaining residents paused for a moment of silence while Sister Patricia Shirley said a prayer and read their names: John Barth, Violet Barth, Lorraine Campbell, Lillian Duryea, Doris English, Walter Jacobson, Albert Sahar, Betty Wilson, Betty Yehling, Thomas Yehling, Max York and Siegfried Wicknig.

The 12, said Sister Pat, "have gone to their heavenly home and are very much with us today." As she spoke, several in the audience wiped away tears.

The Nautilus looks a lot like it did before the fire. But there are some upgrades because of code changes - stairs set differently, better windows, to name a few. Those code changes caused the dispute with Allstate, Day said, because the insurer insisted it was not liable for upgrades, even those required by law. The policy, it said, would only restore the building as it had been before the fire.

Another improvement was the presence of a fire hydrant. The Nautilus fire, which began near a stove in a third-floor apartment, called attention to a problem that the unincorporated Lealman area had complained about for years: a lack of fire hydrants.

Pinellas County and the city of St. Petersburg had argued for years about the situation, each saying the other was responsible for installing hydrants - St. Petersburg because it supplies water to that part of the unincorporated area, and the county because it was the fire authority there.

After the 54 units in the Nautilus were destroyed, the argument intensified as a county study determined that about 160 hydrants were needed in the Lealman area. Finally, the county paid St. Petersburg to install about 40 hydrants and has set aside $900,000 for more.

The exact number of installed hydrants was unavailable last week, but it is more than 50. The installation - and the disagreement - continues.

[Last modified November 13, 2005, 03:00:43]