Earlier this week, some residents of Jenny Lind, a multistory apartment building at 711 S. Jefferson in Springfield, invited Mayor Jeff Schrag to their community room. They wanted to share their frustrations with a building they said had water problems and critter issues. And they told how difficult it's been for them to live in a building without working elevators.
But Friday one elevator began working again. TKE, the company hired by Millenilia to repair the elevator had been given a down payment to do the work. But they only recently were paid the final amount to finish it.
Schrag said he had been told that Millennia had been waiting for the sale of another building they owned before they had the money to pay TKE.
Jenny Lind is a housing complex for those 62 and older and those with disabilities.
The repair means that several residents with mobility issues who had been living in a hotel for many months when their building didn't have a working elevator will be able to go back home.
"While we are of course grateful that tenants can resume some form of normalcy, there are still issues at Jenny Lind Hall, " said Sarah Barnts with Springfield Tenants Unite, "we hope the mayor and the city take more aggressive measures in the future to assure landlord accountability at Jenny Lind and city wide."
