Residents at Jubilee at Texas Parkway are frustrated as a newly repaired elevator breaks down again, just days after regaining service.
MISSOURI CITY, Texas — Two days after one of the elevators at the Jubilee at Texas Parkway senior apartment complex was repaired, residents say it’s already stopped working again.
A resident contacted KHOU 11 News shortly before 9 p.m. Sunday to report that the elevator on one side of the property had gone down again.
KHOU 11 reporter Orko Manna had been at the complex earlier in the evening, working on a story about the elevator finally being back online. Video captured just hours before showed residents using the elevator, which had been out of service for nearly a year.
Residents were thrilled to see it moving again, even inviting KHOU to ride it up to the fourth floor to prove it was functioning smoothly.
But that progress didn’t last long.
By Sunday night, the elevator was once again out of service. A new video taken around 9:40 p.m. confirmed it had stopped working.
According to Elevators of Beaumont, the company hired last month to address the long-standing issues at the complex, the outage is a minor glitch and not connected to the original year-long problem.
They said the elevator may experience intermittent issues now that it’s back in use after being idle for so long.
A technician has been dispatched to restore service, but as of the latest update, the elevator remains offline.
The complex’s second elevator, which has been down for nearly two months, also remains out of service.
Earlier in the day, Manna spoke to residents about the ongoing issue.
The sound of the elevator doors opening was a welcome change for Helen Gomez, who lives on the third floor and struggled to get to her unit.
“Too much terrible, before, the past one year on the stairs, my knees in pain,” Gomez said.
Fourth-floor resident Renee Hill also had to use the stairs while the elevators were out, which has been especially difficult for seniors with mobility issues.
“Just feeling like you were trapped in your apartment, especially for people who have health issues, like myself,” Hill said.
Missouri City Council Member Jeffrey L. Boney said the city’s code enforcement division has issued approximately 60 citations to the property, totaling more than $10,000. KHOU 11 News noticed violation notices from Saturday and Sunday on the apartment’s office door. Despite one elevator being fixed, Boney said the city’s enforcement action will continue until the second elevator is operational.
“Even today, our code enforcement team has been out here, another citation, because we still have one elevator here in Jubilee that is down. And so, of course, those are going to continue, until all elevators on the property are fixed,” Boney said. “We have to stay on top of these individuals to make sure they’re doing the right thing.”
Last week, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation announced that the property could face $381,400 in fines if full elevator service was not restored.
As of Sunday, there is still no timeline for repairing the second elevator. Boney noted the delay is not entirely the building management’s fault.
“UNITECH Parts is the company that sent wrong parts multiple times, including to Elevators of Beaumont, defective parts. They sent a different voltage drive that needed to be put into the elevator that was requested. You had one situation where a cable was missing,” Boney said.
According to its website, UNITECH Parts is a distributor of Otis elevator parts. Otis sent KHOU 11 the following statement about the elevator issues at Jubilee at Texas Parkway:
“Otis works to fulfill all parts orders as quickly as possible and is fully committed to meeting the needs of customers and passengers. Our local team is checking on the status of the order. There is nothing more important to Otis than the safety of our colleagues, customers and the people who rely on our products and services every day.”
Residents, meanwhile, said that they were thankful KHOU 11 News stepped in to push for solutions. Now, they just want consistent progress and fewer delays.
“I hope that things will still continue to be fixed for them, in a timely manner, and they won’t have to call people as yourself to come out and get things rolling for them,” Hill said.