Columbus apartment building for formerly homeless has one elevator -- and it's not working
Some residents of a Columbus apartment building that primarily houses people who have been homeless, some with mental illness and substance abuse issues and two second-floor residents who use walkers, say their building's lone elevator has not been working since Friday.
The three-story Creekside Place apartments at 500 N. Nelson Rd. on the city's East Side are less than two years old. But the elevator broke down on Friday.
Arlene Reitter, resource development and marketing director for the nonprofit Community Housing Network, which owns the 63-unit building through Creekside Place LLC, said the elevator became inoperable about 3 a.m. Friday morning. A crew came and fixed it, she said, and her organization heard nothing more about another breakdown until Monday.
But Jill Erickson, a third-floor resident, said the elevator was down the entire weekend.
"We have people who use walkers," Erickson, 68, said, adding those residents rely on elevators to get in and out of the building.
Two second-floor residents use walkers, Reitter confirmed, with one of them also using a wheelchair.
Reitter said Tuesday that a contractor is ordering parts, including a set of elevator batteries that was to arrive Tuesday and another part that was to get here Tuesday or Wednesday.
Asked about whether the elevator was down over the weekend, Reitter said that it was not reported.
Asked about the safety of residents, Reitter said, "The EMS is aware of everything and they know exactly where these people are. They come immediately.
"I'm not concerned about the safety of residents in the building," she said. "Nothing is more important than our residents. And our staff."
On Tuesday, Erickson had to stop on the second-floor landing of a stairwell to rest and catch her breath while climbing to the third floor. The building has two stairwells, one on each side of the building.
Later, in her third-floor apartment, she said, "This building is not limited to mobile, healthy people."
And Erickson, who moved from a Northwest Side studio apartment when Creekside Place opened, said she is surprised that the elevator still was not fixed as of 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The 63-unit building opened in August 2021. Reitter said all of the apartments are occupied.
Creekside Place LLC purchased the property for $500,000 in January 2020.
The apartments provide supportive permanent housing designed to help residents build skills so they can live independently. The nonprofit National Church Residences provides social services for the building.
Tony Celebrezze, a spokesman for the Columbus Department of Building and Zoning Services, said city officials reviewed the building's plans and the single elevator meets the state building code requirements. The building has stairs.
Celebrezze said that sometimes equipment goes bad, regardless of how new a building might be. "From a code enforcement perspective, if the building owner makes a good faith effort in a timely fashion, we let them go about their business," he said.
State elevator inspectors looked at the elevator in September 2022, he said, and it passed a safety test.
Erickson said she doesn't believe city codes are tenant-friendly.
"In a way, I wonder if I’m supposed to accept this," she said.
mferench@dispatch.com
@MarkFerenchik
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Apartments for formerly homeless has one elevator and it's not working
