Around 40 people, some of them disabled, rallied outside of the Idanha Apartments on Friday. Those who rallied at the complex on West Main Street, near 10th Street, said they're upset and frustrated because of ongoing problems with the building's elevator, as well as its external wheelchair lift.
As of Friday, the elevator and external wheelchair lift were working, but residents say they never know if it will be working properly from day to day.
“Enough is enough,” tenant Ahniah Selene, who's disabled and has lived at the apartments for two years, said.
“The Parklane Management and owner Ken Howell are dragging their feet to fix it… and when they do, it's a band-aid fix and it's not enough,” Selene said. “Over 70-plus days, I have been stranded inside or outside the building, most recently on Thanksgiving, missing my family, missing my church and missing my organizations.”
Selene expressed that frustration, while telling KTVB about how the elevator was previously out of order for 70 days.
But Parklane Management Company said they don’t think the elevator was ever down for 70 days. It was down for 30 days last spring.
“Parklane really does care about our tenants and our buildings and we want to preserve the historic nature of the Idanha," Parklane Management CFO Tisha Bonney said.
"People want to live in the Idanha because of the historic characteristics, so we’re going to do everything we can to maintain that, and unfortunately pieces of equipment do fail, but when that happens, Parklane Management takes it very seriously and we do act immediately,”
Bonney also said it can sometimes take time for the apartment to repair the elevator because it is an older elevator and parts need to be ordered.