DAYTON — A storm caused maintenance problems at a Dayton apartment building. Now some of the people living there, including some who are wheelchair-bound, do not have a working elevator.
The Audubon Crossing Building on Edgewood Ave, off Salem Avenue, is less than five years old. While many wouldn’t think it would have many maintenance issues, this one was caused by Mother Nature.
Terry Hancock has lived in the building since it opened and told News Center 7 what happened last Thursday.
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“I was watching Channel 7, they came on explaining, telling everyone to take cover,” he recalled. “I heard the loud boom that hit the building.”
He said that the boom was the result of a lightning strike and that it took out lights everywhere. But it wasn’t just his apartment that was impacted.
“The whole building. It knocked out our elevator,” he said.
Since then, fixing the elevator has been a big challenge.
“They put in one thing, find out something else is wrong,” Hancock said.
Manuel Mayfield and several other residents depend on wheelchairs for mobility, so seeing the “Out of Service” signs on the building’s elevator is not good.
“The storm burned out everything, man,” Mayfield said.
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The large building is close to power lines and its not clear if the lightning hit some transformers or if the bolt touched down on the roof.
News Center 7′s Mike Campbell went to the management office to see if they had more information about why the elevator service is still not restored. The manager could not go on camera, but a spokesperson said, “The damage done to the electronics on the elevator system required special-order parts and more time-intensive troubleshooting.”
Advocates claiming to represent the handful of residents using wheelchairs on the upper floors reached out to News Center 7. They said they were worried that those residents were, in effect, trapped in their homes.
Building management said, “Audubon Crossing has offered paid hotel stays to residents who use wheelchairs to ensure that their safety is uncompromised.”
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