By Lindsay Tice,Staff Writer

AUBURN – With just two weeks left before she must move to make way for a potentially new retail development near the Auburn Mall, Lisa Fortier has found a new apartment. But the single mother of three hopes the situation is temporary.

Fortier has signed a lease with the River Valley Village, a low-income apartment complex in Lewiston, formerly known as Tall Pines. She hopes to stay there for a year, then buy a home.

“So we don’t ever have to go through this again,” she said.

She plans to move at the end of the month, days before her February deadline.

Last month, Fortier learned that she and two other tenants were being evicted by developer George Schott from their 985 Turner St. apartment building, which flanks the Auburn Mall. Fortier got the news when she came home from work and found her house spray painted for demolition. A few days later, she awoke to crews tearing down trees and her children’s playground equipment.

Schott, who became the apartment’s official owner Dec. 1, said the demolition companies moved more quickly than he expected and that Fortier should have been notified before the building was marked and the yard cleared.

Fortier was given 60 days to get out, with a deadline of early February.

Her plight was featured in the Sun Journal shortly before Christmas. Strangers quickly flooded her with offers of money, Christmas gifts for her children and leads on apartments for rent.

Although she received numerous apartment offers, the units turned out to be too small, too expensive or unsanitary, she said. Fortier, who works for Central Maine Medical Center, continued to search for a three-bedroom place for $750 a month or less.

During the search, Fortier’s luck turned from bad to worse. Looking for asbestos, a fire-resistant material that was often used in construction, workers removed pieces of flooring from her Turner Street apartment. When airborne and inhaled, asbestos can cause cancer and lung disease. Although the building’s owner said there was no danger, she worried the work could expose her children to the dangerous material.

And in the last month, Fortier said, she was in a car accident, then her car broke down, her grandmother became sick, and surgery scheduled in the family had to be postponed.

Fortier recently gave up on finding a private apartment. She will move into the affordable housing project at the end of January.

Fortier had planned to bring her children’s pet bird along, but the apartment complex required a $300 pet fee, she said. She now hopes to find the money or give the bird to a family member or friends for a year.

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