Disabled elevator caused by burst pipe at Detroit high-rise leaves residents frustrated
Detroit officials held an emergency news conference on Saturday afternoon after a pipe burst at a high-rise apartment building, causing the elevator to shut down on Friday night.
David Bowser, chief of staff for Mayor Mary Sheffield, said the city gathered as many resources as possible to meet the needs of Washington Boulevard Apartments residents, the majority of whom are seniors.
Officials say the building has hired round-the-clock security to help elderly people up and down the stairs, even bringing groceries and medicine to their door.
After nearly a month in office, Bowser said Saturday's response by the city is the standard for Sheffield's administration.
"Seniors are definitely important to the administration," he said. "We have an office of senior citizen affairs that Mayor Sheffield announced the other day. And so what we are talking about is collaborating between departments and with property management companies to make sure that the needs of seniors are met."
The building's manager said the burst pipe caught them by surprise. CBS News Detroit spoke with residents who said it's not the first issue they've had at the high-rise.
"The elevator has been a problem," Charlotte Roberts, who has lived in the building for 23 years, said. "When I moved in here, we had a freight elevator. We no longer have that elevator. 'Cost too much money to fix.' Okay. Now, my second year here, I was on the elevator for one hour going to work."
Denise Johnson, who has lived in the building for nine years, says she can't just pack up and go.
"The elevator issue is off and on every other week. Not once a month, twice a month, every other week," Johnson said.
Ronda Peete has lived at that complex for a decade. She started a petition to get Sheffield's attention to the building's issues.
"Some heat is working, but some ain't. Some apartments, we gotta light our ovens and plug in our heaters," Peete said.
Officials said the elevator was drying out on Saturday evening. The building manager is hoping to have it back in service next week.
