SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — Years worth of building problems with no repairs, and now a notice of condemnation — Rebekah Hintzman is at her wit’s end.
She owns and operates two businesses out of the large property near Eerie Avenue and Water Street in Sheboygan: RUFF Academy and The RUFF Rage Room.
The Academy is a dog training and daycare center. The Rage Room allows people to splatter paint and break fragile items for fun.
"It's just been really tough because this is my life,” Hintzman said through tears. “This is my every day.”
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She’s rented a space at this property for almost 8 years. Some of the other tenants have been there for more than 30.
After the newer landlord took over, the maintenance issues have been nonstop — water damage, power failure, poor windows among many others.
"You know, I feel like I've had to put really big band-aids over things."
She even had to McGyver a dustpan to the ceiling “so that the water would come through here into a kiddie pool,” she said, reenacting the set-up.
"This part of the roof is supposed to be fixed, but apparently it’s not."
The building wound up in such bad shape that it was condemned by the City earlier in March.
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Tenants were given a month’s notice to vacate.
"To say you've got to get out in 30 days is not realistic,” Hintzman said, noting that the carpentry renters have to handle 40 tons of machinery alone—not to mention their wood inventory.
The property owner, Nathan Taylor, has not been very responsive, according to the tenants.
"Landlord who? I don't see him. And you only hear from him here and there,” she explained.
TMJ4 phoned Taylor twice on Monday and sent him a text message, requesting answers. He has not responded.
TMJ4 also called Mayor Sorenson to ask why the tenants were only given 30 days to leave the building.
He told TMJ4 that his office has been working with Taylor since September, and that Taylor knew this notice had been looming for months (if the problems weren’t rectified by certain deadlines.)
"At the end of the day, the thought for the tenants was not there,” Hinztman insisted.
Luckily her gut told her she needed to start shopping around for a new building before the news broke. Hintzman hopes to have it secured by the end of the week.
She and other tenants are also working with the City of Sheboygan for a possible extension on vacating the property.
Many of them are left stunned, but others, like Hinztman, are still holding onto a shred of hope.
With fingers crossed, she manifested: “There’s a very good potential to see RUFF Academy and Rage Room in another location.”
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