Regency Tower to remain closed for at least 2 more months
The Regency Tower apartment complex will continue to be closed for at least two more months following a fire on the tenth floor on May 24.
The fire, that claimed the life of one person, has caused significant damage to the tenth and eleventh floors.
At a meeting on Wednesday, officials said residents will not be able to occupy the building for at least two more months.
Between Monday, June 10 through Friday, June 14, residents on floors one through nine can get their belongings if they want or move out. Starting on June 14, no one will be allowed in. Residents on floors 10 and 11 will not be allowed back in at all.
Property manager Cherie Pearson explains, “the entire building will be shut down and evacuated like it is now for those remediations and repairs that need to happen.”
There was structural damage including the need for a completely new staircase, the main reason residents won’t be allowed inside for two months. Another concern and time consumer will be asbestos, the fire disturbed it and crews will have to take it out.
Longtime resident, Trudy Wood, who was rescued by firefighters during the fire says, “I said God please don’t let me die up here.”
Her apartment is just above the unit where the first is suspected of starting. She was told today, her apartment is completely destroyed.
Wood explained, “all my stuff is gone. This is hard. Even though I can stay with a relative, this is hard. Very hard.”
As for rent, all residents are bound legally to their lease. Residents should expect to pay rent for the month of June.
Prorated rent will come later, meaning if a resident is only in their unit for a certain amount of days, they will get their money back.
Residents who can access their units have the option of moving out altogether starting next Monday.
Barbara Buckman says she hasn’t made her decision yet.
“I just don’t know what I’m going to do. I feel like going to some place and crying,” she says.
The cause of the fire has not been determined. The Colorado Springs Fire Department said in a statement last week, there was too much damage to figure out what specifically started it.
