DETROIT (WXYZ) — To get from the garage of Alden Towers to her apartment on the sixth floor, Kristine Christlieb has to climb seven flights of stairs because both elevators in the building near downtown Detroit have been broken for five days.
Christlieb said she does not have mobility issues but some of her neighbors do have trouble getting around.
"Just watching her and her daughter come up those stairs was just painful," Christlieb said about one neighbor.
"The freight elevator has been out for months," she added. "So when people are moving in and out, that elevator has not been available for a long time. And it also means that when the main elevator goes out, there are no elevators for a property that has eight stories."
The apartments sit along East Jefferson Ave. and when attempts to reach property management were not successful, 7 Action News contacted the president of the company, David Friedman, who put us in touch with Chuck Delaney, Executive Managing Director, Administration & Operations.
Delaney said he was unclear when the freight elevator stopped working but did acknowledge the frustration of residents that the passenger elevator stopped working Friday afternoon.
Delaney said an elevator repair company came out Sunday to look at what repairs were needed and he said those repairs should be done Wednesday.
Delaney said if residents need help bringing groceries upstairs, they can contact on-site management for assistance.
Delaney said they would need to rely on first responders for medical emergencies.
An online search for reviews of Alden Towers and it's clear that working elevators have been an ongoing issue over the years.
Because of the age of the elevators, Delaney said they're very expensive to fix but that they are also working to modernize them.
Some residents, who did not want to appear on camera, said they were also frustrated with maintenance issues for the approximately 100-year-old building.
Christlieb said, "I just feel like they're not giving this anchor property on East Jefferson the attention that it needs."
