Neighbors seek answers in ongoing Washington Street apartments saga

Neighbors shared their concerns and outrage during a recent public forum discussing the status of an environmentally hazardous, vacant, apartment complex on the city’s west side.

The Washington Street apartments, also known as the Bally Vaughn Apartments, are located in the 1300 block of West Washington Street across from Sacred Heart-Griffin High School. For more than a decade, the site has been a source of complaints about mishandling of asbestos material and suspected illegal activity inside the buildings.

“I wonder whether we’re ever going to get a resolution to this,” said Kurt DeWeese, vice president of the Historic West Side Neighborhood Association. “The blight of the Bally Vaughn Apartments has to be cleaned up as soon as possible.”

Blight is evident in the buildings’ shattered windows, entryways with broken doors, and a mattress and torn couch lying in the adjacent parking lot.

A chain-link fence surrounds the lot and a black tarp covers a portion of the barrier, to the consternation of residents who say it blocks them from overseeing what work is being done.

Illinois Assistant Attorney General Kevin D. Barnai provided legal updates at the Oct. 15 meeting hosted by the Historic West Side Neighborhood Association at Douglas Avenue United Methodist Church. 

Barnai represents the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency in pending court cases regarding the apartment complex. He said the IEPA’s sole interest is to remediate the environmental concern from the asbestos contamination.

“We just want the asbestos removed properly, safely, for the safety of the citizens, children, schools and everyone surrounding the property,” Barnai said.

Asbestos is a natural substance that was commonly used in building materials up until the 1980s. Its very small fibers can only be detected under a microscope. If inhaled, the fibers stay lodged in your lungs and can form cancer with the symptoms developing years later, according to OSHA. 

Investigations into asbestos contamination at the site began when the IEPA received a complaint in 2023.

Bernai said IEPA officials observed workers removing contaminated materials and placing them in dumpsters without any safety precautions. 

“I believe there have been reports of contractors there without a mask (or) protective equipment,” he said.

The state filed a complaint with the Sangamon County Circuit Court against Wabash Crossing Group, LLC, the listed property owner, on April 21, 2025, for not being in compliance with the Environmental Protection Act. 

The owner agreed to an interim order requiring the company to hire an Illinois-licensed asbestos professional and submit an asbestos abatement plan. Instead, Barnai said, the owners submitted “three pages of basically nothing.”  

“I think it was a general concept of a plan, but it did not reach anywhere to what we were requiring for them to do,” he said.

Asbestos abatement involves either proper removal of the pollutant or enclosing it from further human contact.

Last October, the state asked a judge to hold the company in contempt for failing to abide by the order, and since then the company has hired an Illinois-licensed asbestos abatement professional. 

Brunei said the owner submitted a project design and it was approved by the IEPA last month.

As to whether the company had begun remediation, he said it wasn’t clear and updates on the IEPA’s website weren’t available.

A court hearing is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 19, at 9:30 a.m. via Zoom.

Frustration grew from the audience when they learned the company has not submitted a timeline for when the asbestos abatement will be completed. 

Others sounded the alarm for the potential harm the asbestos exposure may have to the larger community due to the ability for the wind to spread the toxin beyond the site.

 “So, I’m just wondering if anybody has taken the health of the community into consideration,” said one attendee, to which Barnai said the IEPA won’t be conducting any testing because it doesn’t have the resources to do so.

Another point of contention is the lack of action attendees perceive from the city officials in addressing safety concerns surrounding the vacant buildings.

Several attendees recalled seeing people on the site likely finding shelter in the vacant buildings.

Dave Fuchs, director of the Office of Public Works, said the city lacks the ability to enter the site to inspect it until the state’s case is finalized.

Barnai noted only Illinois-licensed asbestos professionals are allowed to enter the site.

“If the city were to contract with a licensed asbestos professional to go on site to do the things they need to do, they can do that, but I just don’t believe they have that on their staff at this moment or are able to do so,” Barnai said. 

Even prior to the asbestos issues being brought to light, several neighbors said they were opposed to rehabbing the apartment buildings and would prefer to see them demolished. The building has been vacant for about 12 years.

DeWeese recalled testifying against a proposed renovation project for the building at a city zoning commission hearing several years ago.

“We objected to the size of the facility, that there were just too many units for the size of the property there, as well as inadequate parking,” he said.

Cindy Cantwell, a nearby resident, said she shares those concerns in addition to concerns about the asbestos contamination. She said she was disappointed by what she heard from city and state officials at the meeting.

“Nothing has been done and it’s constantly, ‘Well, we can’t, we can’t,’ and the city points their finger at the state,” she said.  

“The state’s not doing anything because now we’re finding out that it’s supposed to be the owner doing something. Well, the owner has been playing all of us.”