The building at 231-237 Pennsylvania Ave.

State officials have 21 days to respond to a lawsuit filed earlier this week seeking to nullify state and federal funding approvals for a contested senior housing project in Warren.

Warren residents David Winans, Ronald Peterson, Philip Caudill, Wendy McCain and Kevin Sheldon filed a federal lawsuit in Western District Court against Adrianne Todman, acting secretary of the U.S. Housing and Urban Development department, and Rick Siger, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, as well as both officials’ agencies.

Winans, Peterson, Caudill, McCain and Sheldon oppose a proposal by Hudson Companies to build the Eagles Crest housing project at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Liberty Street. The project involves demolishing a property at 231-237 Pennsylvania Ave., which the Warren residents say is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“Demolition of 231-237 Pennsylvania Avenue will not only result in the irreplaceable loss of Warren’s only surviving example of single-story Beaux Arts Style architecture, but also inflict severe and long-lasting effects on the character, community and economy of Warren and jeopardize the continued maintenance of the Warren Historic District’s listing in the National Register,” wrote attorney Michael Agresti of the Erie law firm Marsh Schaaf in the lawsuit.