A two-week hearing was scheduled to begin today (Aug. 20) in the courtroom of visiting Municipal Judge Teresa Liston to determine the fate of the Woodcliff Condominiums.

The city of Whitehall is seeking a court order to demolish the 317-unit residential complex at the northeast corner of East Broad Street and South Hamilton Road.

Whitehall officials say the condominiums represent a continuing threat to the safety and welfare of the city and that the owners and receiver of the property have had ample time to repair what the court previously has determined to be a nuisance.

Receivers and owners of the condominiums counter that some progress has been made and that the condominium association for Woodcliff has voiced concerns about where displaced occupants would reside.

There are multiple owners of the units, and three receivers have been named since Whitehall first took action against the Eisenhower-era residential complex in 2007.

Whitehall first filed a complaint in 2007 against Woodcliff Condominiums, citing it as a public nuisance.

In February 2008, Municipal Judge Harland Hale ordered Woodcliff owner Tom Oleander, having been cited for numerous health- and building-code violations, to cede daily management of the facility to a court-appointed receiver; however, he retained ownership of more than 200 units.

Last month, Liston, who was appointed to conclude the case because of an unrelated conflict of interest for Hale, heard a case concerning 16 units at Woodcliff. Beginning Aug. 20, she will hear the case regarding the remainder of the units.