City did not shut down Courtyard of McHenry assisted living home, officials say

A notice posted Friday on the door at The Courtyard of McHenry – indicating the assisted living facility was not approved for occupancy because of a code violation – was placed in error, according to city officials.

“They had an issue with the sprinkler system and it is slated to be fixed by Wednesday,” said Ross Polerecky, McHenry’s community development director.

A person with a parent at the assisted living facility posted a photo of that notice to a McHenry-based Facebook group on Sunday, leading many there to question what was going on with the building and if their parents needed to be moved.

“This is a building with 70 residents,” Polerecky said. “Unfortunately ... the wrong sticker was put on it on Friday. The sticker is no longer on the building.”

The city has been working “very closely” with the McHenry Township Fire Protection District and the facility’s management to solve a problem with the fire suppression system since Nov. 14, Polerecky said.

The issue has resulted in “multiple” false-alarm fire district calls to the facility at 3300 Charles J. Miller Memorial Highway, Polerecky said.

An email that was sent to residents and families, whose sender was identified as Christy McFarlane, the facility director, was posted on the Facebook group to explain the issue.

It reads, in part, that the repair is scheduled to for Wednesday morning at that “the building is not being shut down. We are also in the process of beginning the complete replacement of our dry system that will end the ongoing problems we have been having with the system.”

That dry system protects the building’s attic space, Polerecky said, adding that repairs have been delayed because “there has been an issue getting parts.”

When reached by phone, McFarlane said she was unable to provide further comment.