H eadlines
Building Repairs Continue After Flood
pieces of memorabilia from the
Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall
of Fame were packed into big,
square boxes and stored in the
building lobby. Industrial fans
are blowing around the clock,
drying the last of the water that
once reached 7 feet high.

The building’s facilities team
and Jewish Federation of Greater
Philadelphia executives agree
that progress has been steady,
but slow. Robb Quattro, the
building’s director of informa-
tion technology and systems,
N M OW
OD L
EL EA
S SIN
OP G
EN !
! M LE
OO LAB
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BE V
2 TS A
I UN
has a mantra to summarize the
progress made over the last three
SASHA ROGELBERG | JE STAFF
weeks: “Slow is better than no.”
Steve Rosenberg, the Jewish
THE BASEMENT OF the Jewish
Federation chief operating
Community Services Building
officer, and other Jewish
looks vastly different than it did
Federation executives aim to
on Sept. 2, but it still bears little
have staff and tenants back
resemblance to what it looked like
in the building on Oct. 4, the
prior to Hurricane Ida.

date originally set for many
Since then, large, rectan-
employees to return from
Two hundred and fifty auditorium seats were removed after they were
gular chunks of drywall were
pandemic-precipitated remote
damaged in the flood.
Photos by Jamaal Chambers
removed from the wall, and
work in March 2020.

250 auditorium seats were
Though the Jewish Federation employees return then, it is facilities staff to carry furniture
ripped out; all salvageable
has committed to having willing to be flexible if necessary. and supplies throughout the
“We’ve told staff to be ready building — relies on a trans-
for Oct. 4,” Rosenberg said. “And former to function. Because the
if you’re ready for Oct. 4, you’ll transformer is located at waist-
be ready for Oct. 11 or 18 or 25.” level, it was entirely submerged
With more employees working and needs to be replaced.

from home once again, remote
In the meantime, a crew
UPPE R DU BLI N
access to the server through the will begin cleaning the entire
previously never-before-used building, which has remained
disaster relief site has increased empty since the hurricane.

to almost 30 people. Quattro has According to Rosenberg, the
tripled the bandwidth on the cleaning process will take about
virtual private network.

two weeks. Facilities staff also
Facilities staff works on discovered minor damages to
building repairs daily.

the building’s roof, which will
“The team is in here by 7 need to be repaired.

a.m. every day, really working,”
The memorabilia from the
Rosenberg said.

hall of fame will be assessed and
On Sept. 13, the building’s cleaned by local museum special-
heating, ventilation and air ists until it is eventually moved
conditioning system was up and to a new home, which is still
running again, leaving the eleva- being decided upon by Stephen
tors as the only component of the Frishberg, the hall’s chairperson.

main system still not operable.

During the building cleanup,
Though facility manager Chambers noticed some new
Jamaal Chambers and his team needed repairs that wouldn’t
Designed with luxury in mind, The Residences at the Promenade
lifted the two elevators in the have otherwise been discov-
building lobby to drain three ered — such as a leak in the
off er lavish apartments situated above a beautiful town center.

feet of water from one elevator lower-level bathroom behind
• Park Trails
• Dog Parks & Washrooms
• Bocce Court
shaft over two days, the elevators the drywall — so he considers
are waiting on parts before they the building lucky, despite the
• Pool with Sundeck • Media & Game Rooms
• Fitness Center
can be repaired.

existing damage.

Amenities too many to mention!
Those elevator repairs are
The building is about 50
straightforward and likely years old, but Chambers said
Clean Juice • Sprouts Farmers Market • Lululemon
minor; the Jewish Community that its age has been an asset to
Fine Wine and Good Spirits! • Home Goods
Services building also has two its integrity. The foundation of
elevators in the back — one the building is brick, which is no
Coming Soon!
passenger and one freight longer the to-go material when
Banfi eld • La Scala’s Fire • Trinity Physical Therapy
elevator — that are presenting constructing buildings meant to
Smashburger • Carbon Health • Starbucks • Serenity Nail Bar
higher hurdles to clear.

house many tenants.

The passenger elevator in
“A lot of the older build-
the back of the building experi- ings are built better because
enced the brunt of the flooding nowadays, all these new devel-
and is too muddy to be lifted opments — a lot of it is just wood
and drained of water. The
A Bruce E. Toll Community
freight elevator — used by the
See Repairs, Page 5
L OCA L
UPSCALE LIVING
STEPS ABOVE IT ALL!
Welsh & Dreshertown Roads • Dresher, PA
833-238-1100 ResidencesUD.com
4 SEPTEMBER 23, 2021
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