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Camden is securing site - finally

The blogger Brian K. Everett posted this image of himself documenting open sidewalks at Radio Lofts in Camden, nearly two weeks after a city inspection concluded the site should be fenced off to protect public safety.

Blogger Brian K. Everett posted this image of himself documenting open sidewalks at Radio Lofts. (Photo via NJ Poverty Reality)
Blogger Brian K. Everett posted this image of himself documenting open sidewalks at Radio Lofts. (Photo via NJ Poverty Reality)Read more

The blogger Brian K. Everett posted this image of himself documenting open sidewalks at Radio Lofts in Camden, nearly two weeks after a city inspection concluded the site should be fenced off to protect public safety.

Four weeks after the Camden blogger questioned the stability of a vacant downtown building - and a day after he posted two-week-old municipal inspection documents urging immediate action - the city is finally moving to secure the structure.

"If sounding a little alarmist is what it took to make sure people aren't killed by falling objects, so be it," said Everett, whose NJ Poverty Reality blog suggested the Cooper Street landmark may be in danger of collapse, or could be demolished.

"There are no structural problems with the building," Camden spokesman Vincent Basara declared Friday, citing a city inspection as well as a preliminary review of an outside consultant's inspection. "There is no structural damage to the building."

However, evidence of water-damaged exterior bricks and falling debris have led the city to direct the owner, the Camden Redevelopment Agency, to erect a fence around the building by Monday, Basara said. In a subsequent e-mail, the spokesman added that the city "is working closely with the CRA to ensure the area is appropriately sectioned-off and secure. The construction official is also awaiting [the consultant's] report with [a] remedy for repairing the exterior walls of the building."

Radio Lofts is developer Carl Dranoff's name for the proposed transformation of the former RCA Building #8 into 86 condo units. His project went on hold several years ago after some environmental remediation work was completed, leaving the 10-story structure, erected in 1922, gutted and partially open to the elements.

Everett, 21, of Cherry Hill, is a student in a master's program at Rutgers-Camden. The campus is adjacent to Radio Lofts, and the blogger said watching the building deteriorate inspired him to take it on as a cause.

"I wanted to raise awareness about it," Everett said.

Bravo. And thank you.