NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — We're listening to your voice in Madison after several of you reached out to us about an apartment complex where two elevators weren't working.
People who live at Madison Towers in Nashville say they feel trapped in their apartments after both elevators in the building broke down, leaving elderly and disabled tenants with no safe way to navigate the eleven-story complex.
Tenants say it's causing a dangerous situation for disabled people living on higher floors there.
Tonya King, who lives on the seventh floor, said she hasn't left her apartment in four days because the climb is too difficult.
"I am out of breath and I ain't been down the stairs in four days because the elevator is out," King said.
King made the trek down all seven floors just to speak with NewsChannel 5 about the elevator problems.
"Someone told me y'all were down here, that is the only reason I came down here myself," King said. "We have two. We should not have both of them out and they keep coming to fix the one on the other side but it keep breaking down too."
The building houses many elderly and disabled tenants who rely on Metro Development and Housing Agency vouchers. For these residents, using the stairs poses serious safety risks.
Lisa Kahner, who uses a walker and lives on the fourth floor, needed help getting down just to get to the food pantry.
"Don't nobody want to help you because they can't even get help themselves," Kahner said.
Without working elevators, even her fourth-floor apartment feels impossibly high.
"I feel like crying right now because I was scared to death on them steps because I almost fell... Ain't no telling what would happen," Kahner said.
Both tenants said the problems began after a fire alarm Friday. Kahner said she couldn't even evacuate during the emergency.
"Someone pulled the fire drill and I couldn't get down because I couldn't go down the steps," Kahner said.
A sign posted on the elevators indicates Freeman Webb Company manages the property. The notice confirms both elevators are out of service.
King said residents on higher floors face even greater challenges.
"You got people paralyzed up higher on the 10th and 11th floor that can't even get down," King said.
King estimates a couple hundred people live in the building and she said tenants need a safer option for getting around.
I reached out to both the Metro Development and Housing Agency and Freeman Webb Company for comment.
A spokes person with MDHA said elevators stopped working Saturday evening. One elevator was restored on Sunday but had issues again. MDHA said they hope to have one of them running before the end of the day.
The property manager said they're working on getting someone to speak with us, but we haven't received any specific information yet.
Have you experienced accessibility issues in your apartment building? Share your story and help us investigate housing safety concerns in Middle Tennessee by emailing kim.rafferty@NewsChannel5.com. Watch the full video report above to see how these residents are coping with this dangerous situation.
In this article, we used artificial intelligence to help us convert a video news report originally written by Kim Rafferty. When using this tool, both Kim and the NewsChannel 5 editorial team verified all the facts in the article to make sure it is fair and accurate before we published it. We care about your trust in us and where you get your news, and using this tool allows us to convert our news coverage into different formats so we can quickly reach you where you like to consume information. It also lets our journalists spend more time looking into your story ideas, listening to you and digging into the stories that matter.
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