"My Dream Is Done Now" Laments Steel City Man After Losing Recently Repaired Home To Demolition, Despite Removal From City's 'Tear Down' List

In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh Tribune Review reports:

• When Andre Hall bought a house in the West End, he thought he "finally had a piece of Pittsburgh." On Monday, Hall, 40, returned to do repair work on the house at 3224 Motor St. to find workers demolishing it.

• "I don't come for a week over the holiday, and as soon as I come back, I see a backhoe on top of the house," he said. "Why did they demolish the house? They could see I had put in new windows and had slabs of drywall."

• John Jennings, acting chief of Pittsburgh's Bureau of Building Inspection, said his department notified contractors P.J. Deller Inc. on Nov. 3 that the house no longer was slated for demolition. "A couple things went awry," Jennings said. "The house next door was to be demolished, and the contractor, in error, took this house down as well."

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• Hall, who works in home repairs, said he was about three weeks away from being able to move into the home. He planned to live there with his girlfriend, Shawna Jones, and his five children. The couple lives in a one-bedroom apartment in East Liberty. "My dream is done now," he said. "Someone needs to man up and take responsibility for this."

For the story, see West End demolition leaves property, owner empty.