ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The window view from Mother Lawrence's living room church pews is dark. On Monday, a Municipality of Anchorage building safety crew and a contractor screwed plywood over the building's windows — a necessary step, officials said, to keep people out.
"It makes no sense," Jacob Lawrence III said, his back turned to a bright, late-morning sun, as he watched a two-person crew measure and drill.
It's an outcome he'd hoped to avoid.
Because of an unpaid utility bill that exceeds $4,000, the building has not had running water in more than two months. Because there is no water, it's considered unsanitary, and therefore, unsafe.
As the contractors worked, Jacob's brother, Randy Lawrence, was swiftly taking down wall hangings for safekeeping — honorary plaques, a picture with the president, and other mementos.
"I'm taking it down right now because I don't know what's going to happen," he explained, standing in the main unit's front doorway.
Around the corner, a hand-written sign reading "no food" was posted on the side door where fruit, bread, and other donated items were, until recently, dispensed daily.
The brothers had hoped to avert a forced departure.
Their mother, Alice Lawrence, no longer lives there. She moved into assisted living a few weeks ago, they said.
Jacob Lawrence told KTUU there's been some confusion over building ownership following the death of his father last year.
In a city notice posted Jan. 25, the owner was identified as MTGLQ Investors LP. Municipal property records available online show the company took ownership in September, 2018.
A second city notice, posted Feb. 12, identifies the owners as Jacob and Alice Lawrence.
The Lawrence brothers feel they should be allowed to stay.
They've brought in bottled jugs of water to keep water flowing through the pipes. According to city officials, it's not enough.
"Typically it takes 80-100 gallons per person to meet the average daily needs of a person in the United States to take care of just hygiene and cooking things," Robert Doehl, Anchorage Building Safety Director, told KTUU Monday. "When you have less than that, or an unstable supply, or unknown whether it is potable and safe that's where you run into the risk of furthering disease or other unsanitary conditions," he said.
Doehl told KTUU if the water is restored, the Lawrence home will be prioritized for re-inspection. If it passes inspection, they'll allow occupancy.
