TULSA, Okla. — A big sigh of relief for people living in the Hewgley Terrace Apartments in downtown Tulsa.
For nearly a month, the Tulsa Housing Authority building has not had working elevators.
Late Tuesday, elevator inspectors signed off on repair work done to one of the cars.
Mobility-challenged people living in Hewgley Terrace Apartments in downtown Tulsa say broken elevators have left many of them stranded in their units for nearly a month, unable to get down to street level to go to doctor's appointments or go grocery shopping for themselves.
The 8-story Tulsa Housing Authority building is home to many elderly and disabled residents. Lisa Ramona Bryant, a 5th-floor tenant with bad knees, said she makes a painful trip down and back up the stairs once each morning to briefly walk her dog.
She told 2 News Oklahoma that many of her neighbors are unable to do even that because they can't go up and down stairs.
"It's sad because there's a lot of people in wheelchairs," Bryant said.
A man living on the 4th floor contacted 2 News Oklahoma by email and described the impact on his neighbors.
"You have people in wheelchairs that cannot get out to go to doctor's appointments ... we need some help," Erik said.
Tenants tell 2 News that the building's two elevators worked intermittently before a modernization project on them began nearly a month ago. The Tulsa Housing Authority said it planned to take one elevator out of service while working on the other. But Ginny Henseley with THA told 2 News when TK Elevators took one car offline, both elevators stopped working.
Since then, residents say they have received only occasional updates about when the elevators would be fixed. They would like more frequent updates. Many say they rely on updates from 2 News because it has been able to get information they don't hear directly from THA.
As the wait for repairs drags on, Bryant said neighbors have stepped up to help each other.
"One of the residents here and the Walmart person had to carry my groceries all the way up to here," Bryant said.
She also credited building staff for checking in on residents.
"They've been real helpful, the maintenance people and the property managers. They come up and check on everybody on the different floors," Bryant said.
But Bryant said what residents really want is for the elevators to be back in service so they can once again come and go on their own.
Late Tuesday afternoon, they got their wish. THA distributed fliers saying an inspection of repairs on one elevator showed it passed and could go back in service. Now work will move forward getting the second back up and running
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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