Williamsport, Pa. — A recently issued “order to vacate” is threatening the owner and tenants of the Pajama Factory, a historic structure at 1307 Park Avenue, to vacate the building immediately. That would require more than 150 tenants to leave their spaces.
Mark Winkelman, the Pajama Factory’s owner, received the order to vacate on July 22 from the City of Williamsport Bureau of Codes. He believes the order is based on an assessment completed in July by the Williamsport Fire Inspector, Stephen Yonkin.
The order reads: “The buildings commonly known as the Pajama Factory, located at 1307 Park Avenue, City of Williamsport, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, have gone without the required annual fire sprinkler inspections for over one year.
“Additionally, the buildings are occupied without a working automatic fire sprinkler system, as required, in all areas of the building.”
These violations constitute an unsafe building, according to the Bureau of Codes' order.
Winkelman, who has owned and has been developing the property for 17 years, said he was surprised by the order. He said this year’s inspection was overdue by about three months, but he has conducted an annual fire inspection every year — the last five via a company called VFP Fire Systems. In all of those years, he has never received an order to vacate.
“We have always had meetings to go over reports and address concerns,” he said.
While the notice calls the building “unsafe,” Winkelman contends otherwise.
“Buildings 6, 7, and 9 have all been converted to a wet sprinkler system and building 10 has a dry system,” he said. “These four buildings have complete sprinkler coverage and house all but three ground floor tenants. Older, mostly uninhabited parts of the complex, do not have sprinkler coverage at all because the buildings do not have heat.”
“We have seven sprinkler systems. Four are fully operational, and that’s where everyone is,” he said.
Winkelman contends there are working smoke alarms in all of the residences, sprinkler heads have been replaced and updated, and they have added fire department connections to the sprinkler city water system. Dry standpipes were installed in all the stair wells. The doors are all numbered, per the Fire Department’s request, and all buildings have separate addresses, he added.
“The occupied buildings are safer now than they have ever been,” he insisted.
Winkelman said that in the past, he has had an understanding from the codes department that the building can be done in stages because of its size, age, usage, and importantly, the historic property status. About 150 years old, the Pajama Factory is roughly 300,000 square feet of mixed use space, including small businesses, a coffee shop, sandwich shop, private studios, workshops, residences, and galleries.
NorthcentralPa.com did reach out to the Williamsport Bureau of Codes with questions regarding the city's standpoint on the order, but did not receive a response.
The order also requires Winkelman to use an approved fire watch “until the automatic fire protection system is inspected by an approved fire suppression company and the automatic fire sprinkler system has been determined to be protecting the entire facility.” Winkelman has hired a fire watch service, which provides live coverage 24/7 in the building that is costing him $1,000 a day, he said.
Williamsport Bureau of Fire Chief Sam Aungst said that in the past they have met with Winkelman and his staff to discuss known issues. “The difference this year is that our recent inspection identified some serious safety concerns that required immediate action. Mr. Winkelman has since secured a company to perform a Fire Watch and our understanding is that he is now working to address our concerns,” Aungst said. Aungst did not specifically identify the serious safety concerns.
Because the matter is going to be before the Board of Appeals, Aungst said he was unable to comment on the upcoming appeal.
Now the city appeals hearing, scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 1, may determine the building’s fate and the owner and tenants have flooded social media with a call to action.
The public hearing will take place at 1 p.m. at the Community Theatre League, 100 West Third Street, Williamsport.
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