For nearly a month, residents of a West Pensacola senior apartment complex have been climbing stairs, skipping trips outside, or simply staying stuck in their units because the building’s only elevator is broken again.
The elevator at Alabaster Gardens Senior Community on Massachusetts Avenue has been out of service for approximately four weeks, according to residents who live there. It is not the first time. A broken elevator at the same complex made headlines more than two years ago, when the outage was severe enough that some residents had to be temporarily relocated to a local motel while repairs were made.
Many of the people who call Alabaster Gardens home are older adults who use wheelchairs or manage serious medical conditions, making the stairs a daunting or even dangerous obstacle.
‘Common Sense’ Says Fix It Fast
Annie Boykin, a longtime resident who lives on the third floor, is on dialysis. She said the slow response to the outage has been hard to understand.
“Once it broke down, it seemed like common sense would tell them they need to get somebody over here right away,” Boykin said.
A few doors down, her neighbor Herman Fails said he hasn’t seen repair crews at the building since the elevator went out. Both residents shared a letter they received from Alabaster Gardens staff a few weeks ago acknowledging the problem. “I know how much of an inconvenience it is,” the letter read, in part. “I’ll need to get another technician out with the manufacturer.”
Since then, Fails said, promises of a fix have repeatedly slipped.
“It’ll be Monday, it’ll be Tuesday, it’ll be Wednesday, but now they’re going on another Monday and the elevator’s still not fixed,” he said.
Stuck Inside
A visit to the leasing office found little clarity. The community manager said he was unable to provide an update on the status of the repair.
For Fails, the outage has become a daily physical strain. “It makes me feel bad because I got to walk up and down the stairs and my knees be giving out sometimes and I might fall down the stairs,” he said.
He said some of his neighbors have not left their apartments in weeks because they simply cannot manage the stairs.
“You got people in this area that’s in a wheelchair. They cannot walk down those steps with a wheelchair and nothing else,” Boykin said. “They’re just stuck in their apartment.”
Elevator outages at senior and disability housing communities carry outsized risks. Beyond the inconvenience, residents who cannot safely use stairs can be cut off from medical appointments, grocery trips, and social contact, and building managers can face fair-housing scrutiny under the Americans with Disabilities Act and related housing laws when accessibility equipment goes unrepaired for extended periods.
Residents say they hope the renewed attention on the elevator will push Alabaster Gardens management to bring in a technician and finish the repair before the outage stretches any longer.