Wheelchair user in Canada spends night in lobby because elevators at housing complex don't work

From The Daily Herald Tribune in Alberta, Canada:

A man in a wheelchair spent the night in the lobby of an affordable housing complex last week because both elevators were out of service, said a resident.

And Margaret Edgson Manor resident Darlene Dacey said this is not the first time it has happened.

“Twice since I’ve been here now, both elevators have been broken down and one gentleman spent the night on two occasions in the lobby in his wheelchair. This man is a larger gentleman – should not be sitting in a wheelchair all night and should have access (to his apartment),” she said.

The elevator has since been fixed but Dacey said the building has experienced elevator problems on a number of occasions.

“On average, five days a week, it doesn’t work ... It opens and closes between two to five times before it will close and go up to a floor.”

The manor is a 70-unit – 16 wheelchair accessible and 54 regular – affordable housing complex that opened in 2005. The Grande Spirit Foundation manages the building while the Grande Prairie Residential Society owns it.