CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Seniors inside a Clinton Township apartment building say they’ve been without fully working elevators for months. Some say they’ve been stuck downstairs, even sleeping in the lobby, because they can’t make it back up to their units.
Seniors reached out to Local 4 for help.
The apartment management company tells Local 4 one of the elevators has been out since November and they are working hard to expedite the process and parts. The management company also tells Local 4 they are meeting with local emergency services to address safety concerns.
They say they share in residents’ frustration.
St. George Tower in Clinton Township has 11 flights and residents say about 200 seniors live inside the building.
“They should fix the elevator,” one resident said from their balcony when Local 4 showed up.
If one was to walk inside, they’d see seniors packed and pressed into the only elevator that’s functioning, at least for today.
Residents say there’s supposed to be multiple working elevators.
“If you were to go inside – people, older people, are having to walk up flights and flights of stairs?” Local 4 asked one senior.
“They can’t – that’s the problem. Most of them are on walkers or canes. They can’t,” a resident, who asked not to share their identity out of fear of retaliation, said.
The resident said the elevator issue has been a problem for a long time. It’s common for both elevators to be down, especially lately.
“There are people sitting all in the lobby saying ‘we can’t go up the stairs, we have to spend the night here.’ So, some of their families came and got them, but EMS arrived because a lady couldn’t breathe. Her oxygen was broken,” the resident said.
The resident is referring to a woman having a medical emergency on the fifth floor.
Local 4 asked what EMS’s response was to the elevator being down.
“They were pretty upset – they said, ‘are you kidding me?’ So they got their flashlights and tilted the gurney and went all the way up the stairs,” the resident said.
It’s creating other issues, too.
“There’s been a lot of fights in the elevators – people screaming, because somebody will take cuts and they start screaming,” the resident said.
“When you go to management, or anyone goes to management about the elevator issue – what’s the response?” Local 4 asked.
“We’re doing our best,” the resident said. “People are losing their patience and I can see the animosity.”