Bill Johnas’ home on Fifth Avenue in New Kensington was attached to the neighboring house by two breezeways, one on the first floor and another on the second.
Now though, both are holes in the wall, covered only by plastic sheets and doors, after the conjoining, condemned house was demolished earlier this week.
The side of his front room is also gone, in its place a temporary wooden structure that Johnas said he and his brother, George, built.
Johnas said he is being left with the bill for repairs to his home, which he estimates will be about $20,000.
The demolition project was contracted by the Westmoreland County Redevelopment Authority, using funds from New Kensington, according to Brian Lawrence, executive director of the authority and its land bank, which took over ownership of the house.
Lawrence said it was the county department’s understanding that Johnas “reached a mutually beneficial approach” regarding the project.
“That understanding was that he would need to take any steps necessary to restore the exterior of his home upon the removal of the shared breezeway structure and, in return, the city would cover the demolition cost of the blighted property,” Lawrence said. “This is in accordance with longstanding policy of the city where there are shared walls or structures.”
Johnas, however, said he never agreed to anything and feels it is city’s and county’s responsibility to fix the damage, especially since he is legally blind and on disability.
He said the city and county both initially reached out to his brother, George, who does not live at the property.
New Kensington City Clerk John Zavadak and the city code enforcement office did not respond to TribLive request for comment.
“This is a nightmare for me,” Bill Johnas said. “They left me unsecured with the place wide open.”
George Johnas said they weren’t notified until the day construction started that they would have to pay for repairs, just that the city did notify him a month prior that the demolition would happen soon, but did not provide a date.
“I didn’t know until the day they were doing it,” he said. “That’s what really aggravated me.”
He hired a contractor to start the repairs on Thursday, he said, because the county’s contractor was just going to put up plywood to close the hole.
A full restoration would need more than plywood, though, and will likely need a custom fix for the clapboard siding on the more-than-100-year-old house, Bill Johnas said.
For now, George Johnas will be paying for the repairs. Bill Johnas said he will have to pay his brother back eventually and he is seeking legal help to make the county or city pay for the repairs.
His daughter set up a GoFundMe, which, as of Thursday, had raised only $50 toward its $9,000 goal.
Lawrence said the demolished house had been vacant, abandoned and tax delinquent for more than 15 years.