Still no air conditioning at Park Forest, Illinois, apartment complex amid dangerous heat
A heat wave has settled on Chicago over the past few days, and more than 200 residents of an apartment complex in the south Chicago suburb of Park Forest are stuck spending it without air conditioning.
CBS News Chicago first reported last week on the plight of the residents of the Autumn Ridge apartment complex. On Monday, Park Forest village leaders spoke out for the first time, and threatened to levy fines against the complex owners.
But while residents appreciate the support, they want to see action because they're suffering.
Inside Porsche McCoy's apartment, she was running the ceiling fan and two floor fans Monday. Blinds were closed and the windows opened. Bu the temperature inside was still suffocating — with the thermostat reading 92 degrees.
"It's terrible. It makes me feel like — I just want to move now. I really do," said McCoy. "My brain can't function."
McCoy is among the more than 200 residents who have been suffering from oppressive heat off and on all summer. But the last few days have been the worst.
"It's like, demoralizing," said Derin Curtis. "It's just hot here, and it's like the management doesn't have any humanity."
inside the Curtis home in the Autumn Ridge complex, it was 86 degrees on Monday. One fan was devoted to the family's 5-month-old baby, another to their dog.
They appreciate the fans, but they said the fans are insufficient.
"It's not enough. It's kind of like blowing around hot air, and people are getting restless. They're getting angry," Curtis said. "People are having sleepless nights, and then you see them the next day, and they just like walk past each other because you don't really want to waste your breath talking."
The residents have been complaining to management for months. They were initially promised the AC would be repaired by June 1, but that didn't happen.
"Complain and complain and complain," said McCoy. "Building management would tell us, 'Uh, we're trying to wait on a piece.'"
CBS News Chicago wanted to speak to management, but there was no answer.
Late Monday afternoon, Park Forest village managers issued a news release reading: "The Village of Park Forest is demanding that the management staff at Autumn Ridge work quickly to restore air conditioning for its residents."
The village continued, "Additionally, the village will seek to impose daily fines on the owner of the property for failing to maintain essential services to its residents.
A village spokesman told CBS News Chicago it is unclear who currently owns the complex. They believe it was recently sold.
But the spokesman said since January 2024, the building owners have been cited 175 times for violating occupancy rules — and they face $700,000 in past due water bills. The village is reluctant to turn off the water, because that will hurt residents.
"It's in a rock and a hard place," said Park Forest Village Trustee Randall White.
While White wants the owners to take action, he is concerned that too much pressure will backfire.
"My fear is that if that we put the pressure on them, that they just do basically more of what they're doing, but even worse — nothing; throw their hands up and say: 'Hey, it's on you guys. It's nothing that we can do,'" White said, "and if we, you know, condemn the building or the facility, where will the residents move to?"
Park Forest village managers want to remind residents that there are two open during regular business hours, but that the police station is open 24 hours as a cooling facility.
