Demolition crews are tearing down the Georgetown Common Apartments in Washington, Illinois. Peoria Public Radio’s Alex Rusciano reports the apartment complex is one of the focal points in the recovery from November tornado:
Residents still can’t get access to their destroyed properties months after the disaster because of safety concerns. It will take work crews two months to demolish the near 200-units on the property. Calvin Hale and Angela Cockrell live together and express different feelings as they watched workers demolish the former apartment complex:
HALE: Closure for me was the day we walked out of here. I’ve never really looked back. Her on the other hand, she has.
COCKRELL: I walk by here, I cry. I’m sorry, this isn’t closure for me yet. I want to see this stuff burnt. I want is all down.
Hale and Cockrell lived in the apartment complex for six years, and are currently renting a home in East Peoria. More than half of the 600 homes in Washington that were completely destroyed are being rebuilt. But the City says it still hasn’t heard from some residents about their long-term rebuilding plans, and other properties remain completely untouched.