ST. LOUIS – Both elevators are operating again at a St. Louis apartment building after the Fox Files exposed a weeks-long issue of residents being trapped.
“Good morning,” William Darty, a resident at Roosevelt Towne Apartments, said.
And boy is it. William and his wife Bertha have loaded up the refrigerator.
“It was fun. I guess we were acting like a couple kids in the grocery store. Enjoy seeing it. We got excited,” William said.
He stood in his stairwell window about a week ago, pleading for someone to help because the elevators in his apartment building, located at Euclid and Delmar, had been broken for three weeks.
“I want to go back to everyday living. You know, a normal life of living,” William said at the time.
William is paralyzed on the right side of his body, and his wife uses a walker. Neither are able to use the steps.
They are able to leave their apartment now because the elevators have been repaired.
“Things look different. You’ve been in the house so long and come out,” William said. “It was devastating. I’ve never experienced that before.”
His wife, Bertha, said she’s able to live again.
“I’m out in the world again,” Bertha said.
The crew at Cardinal Elevator came to the rescue.
Cardinal Elevator Vice President Rodney Stevenson called it a rewarding job.
“I saw your news story Wednesday evening as I was getting ready for bed,” Stevenson said.
Stevenson said hearing how the seniors were stuck and unable to use the steps pulled at his heartstrings.
“The residents who couldn’t go down to get food, [for them] to go to their therapy, to live their normal lives, to get the healthcare they need,” Stevenson said.
A sign that had been posted on the entrance door told residents that property management is doing what it can to get the elevators working again and “not ignoring this emergency.”
“The companies that we have reached out to have all declined our request due to them not feeling safe on the property,” the letter read. “We have contacted every elevator company in the St. Louis and St. Charles area. With the number of incidents that have happened at Roosevelt, we are constantly being declined.”
Hours after the Fox Files exposed the issue, St. Louis showed up, including Cardinal Elevator.
They started to make the repairs, which proved to be a challenge an hour into getting one of the elevators working again.
“The A/C in the elevator repair room was not working, so it overheated and shut down,” Stevenson said.
The building repaired the A/C unit, and they were able to determine what parts were needed to get both up and running again.
“The insides, the brains, the elevator controller, a lot of the contactors, relays, and stuff in there have just been neglected and needed to be replaced,” Stevenson said.
Both elevators are officially up and running again, giving William and Bertha the opportunity to make their next doctor’s appointment.
“I’m glad that you stepped in and came to our rescue,” Bertha said.
We reached out to Roosevelt Towne Apartments, but the company did not respond to our request for a comment.