(UPDATED)
Nearly two dozen people have to find a new place to live by the end of October as a Steubenville apartment building is closing.
Cathedral Apartments, located in the city’s downtown, are closing due to structural issues. The Diocese of Steubenville owns the property and ended its lease with the community Action Council in August.
"The building has been in severe disrepair for some time," Diocese of Steubenville Director of Properties Scott Yarmen said.
"I tried talking with Mike McGlumphy from the CAC to try and work together to try and help by getting a person to help petition a grant to try to help them raise the money, but it wasn’t going anywhere.”
One of the main concerns for the diocese was the roof.
"We needed an architect to go in and look at stuff, and we did everything that the city required to get this funding, We needed the diocese to extend the lease so we could place a lien against the property for the life of the roof," McGlumphy said.
The CAC had 3 years left on its original lease but said it could not fix all of the damages without further extension.
Some believed there was funding for the roof.
"Partial,” Yarmen said. “That was never set up completely, so it didn't address the other issues with the building as far as the facade and other structural issues."
More than 20 tenants were told that they had to be out of the building by the end of October. The CAC says Steubenville city officials said the building was to be closed in order to get the original funding. The city denied a community development block grant application for the project a few years ago.
"The same agency that did the inspection that said, 'Oh I wouldn’t live here, that this roof is falling in,' is the same agency who is giving me the money to fix the roof," McGlumphy said.
The diocese says the roof was just the beginning of the repairs and what led to terminating the lease early.
"These were all issues they were trying to address and to get numbers for, but it just can't happen fast enough. And we can't continue to let people stay in the building," Yarmen said.
"I don't know what’s going to happen to this building, but at a time when homelessness is at its highest in our county, we are losing 30 units," McGlumphy said.
The diocese has no current plans with the building and JMHA is working with the CAC to house all tenants.
(UPDATE)
The diocese emphasized the lease said the CAC was responsible for the maintenance, repair and cleanliness of the structure and the city had inspected the building and deemed it unsafe, which led it to terminating the lease and not renewing it.