‘This is the last straw’: Broken elevator issue prompts some condo owners to consider selling

WINNIPEG — It’s been nearly two weeks since the only elevators at 77 Edmonton Street broke down, and still residents are forced to take the stairs.

Saturday morning, people living in the 12-storey condo building received a notice, saying the elevators would not be in service by the Friday afternoon deadline, and that a manufacturer would not be available to fix the problem until Monday.

READ MORE: Elderly people ‘trapped’ inside Winnipeg apartment after elevators break down

“This is the last straw I think for people living here,” Joanna Wiebe, who lives on the 12th floor said.

After taking the stairs up and down to her condo, Wiebe said she is now considering the possibility of selling her place, managed by Tower Realty Group, because of the inconvenience.

“I know a lot of the seniors or anyone with disabilities, they’ve definitely moved out. I’m considering doing that also,” she said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I know a lot of the seniors or anyone with disabilities, they've definitely moved out. I'm considering doing that also," she said.

President of the United Firefighters of Winnipeg, Alex Forrest said in all of his 28 years of being working as a firefighter, he has never seen an elevator issue like this.

“As a city we should be outraged that a major building doesn’t have elevators,” Forrest said.

Over the last week and a half, Forrest said fire crews have been receiving medical calls from the building, and added if the problem goes on much longer, safety will become a major issue.

“God forbid if we ever had a major fire call as well, it would be tremendously hard.”

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Forrest said crews are prepared if a major incident happened in the building while the elevators are broken. He said he hopes the issue can be solved in the next day, to avoid stress on fire crews and residents.

“It has to stop, we need to figure out how to fix that elevator. Why is it taking this long,” Forrest said.

READ MORE: Broken elevator prompts Winnipeg man with disability to file human rights complaint

Tower Realty Group would not go on camera Sunday, and said the only statement they could make would be referencing the letter to residents regarding a fix on Monday.

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People living in the building are beginning to lose faith, and some said they don’t think the elevator will be fixed this week.

“I’m losing hope that we will ever have an elevator again,” Teresa Senderewich, who lives on the eighth floor said.

Over the past week, Senderewich said people have been staying in their condos, using the stairs as little as possible.

“Before you used to see people out and about, there would be people coming and going constantly, now it’s just a ghost town.”

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