
Wesley Lake. OG side. Head east, and you will quickly arrive at the Warrington site—it would be a terrific spot for a park, preferably where dogs are invited..Paul Goldfinger photo© 2017
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
This post is a brief update. We want to keep this journalistic fire from extinguishing and we need to maintain our focus on that lot at 22 Lake Avenue, the site of the Warrington Hotel’s charred corpse. All that is left is the foundation–an ancient brick structure which, like the Roman aqueducts, remains hanging around with nothing to do but attract conversations.
Blogfinger has been following this strange case for about 6 years, starting with the building’s deterioration into a derelict boarding house and then flaring up nearly one year ago in that massive fire which destroyed the place in addition to other buildings, but the Warrington is where the conflagration began.
This subject has more loose ends than a Tijuana brothel. Below are some of the active issues. As you know, BF is an information -sharing website, so if you know something, say something (to us.)
a. Lawsuits. We knew early on that some victims were initiating law suits because of their injuries and property losses. But we have no information regarding those suits.
We do know that a number of insurance companies made payouts and are now seeking to sue the owner and the contractor at the Warrington. We have no comprehensive information about that, but we can report that such suits are actively being processed.
In addition we reported recently that the owner of the Warrington, Jack Ancona, is suing Neptune Township to try to recover the pre-fire variances and approvals that were awarded to him for turning the old building into a boutique hotel. But the Township is insisting on proper zoning rulings that require single family homes to be built after an old boarding house is destroyed in a fire (as with the Manchester Inn.)
b. Arson investigation. We know that the Feds (ATF) are still involved and that no final report has been publicly revealed. We have learned that a suspect was arrested, but again, we have no details.
c. Fire prevention issues. Many of you had expressed concerns that not enough had been done to protect the Warrington site, especially with regard to fire risk, but also regarding vagrants who were reported inside that building before the fire.
Since the fire, the Township has been insisting on fences around construction sites.
d. And a related topic has to to with liability….who is responsible for what happened at the Warrington?
At Blogfinger we invite speculation, so let’s hear about it.
HEATWAVE “Mind Blowing Decisions.”
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