For months, residents at the Jacksonville Towers apartments have been sharing their frustrations over non-working elevators.

JACKSONVILLE, Ark. — We’ve told you for several months about the elevator problems at Jacksonville Towers.

According to residents at the Jacksonville apartment complex, one elevator that was cleared by the state and deemed compliant is busted once again.

“We’re having elevator issues,” said resident Paul Michael Ferguson.

If it sounds familiar, that’s because it is.

“I’ve been walking and climbing eight flights of steps just to make sure I get to work on time and get people to where they need to go, but not all of us can do that. A lot of people are on walkers, wheelchairs, walking sticks, and it’s hard for them to do that, and we shouldn’t have to,” he added.



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Since March, residents at Jacksonville Towers have shared many frustrations, saying that they’ve been dealing with the same old elevator issues.

“I don’t mean to hurt anybody’s feelings or offend anybody, but we need some help,” Ferguson said. 

Earlier this year, our crews were invited by residents to observe the issues. During that visit, the managers accused our reporter of trespassing. 

When crews returned on Thursday, the manager of the building across the street, owned by the same company, drove by during an interview with a resident, honked their horn, and appeared to watch us from the door. 

“It’d be easier if we had a management team that knew how we felt,” Ferguson said.

The complex has two elevators, and in May we told you that the State Department of Labor and Licensing issued the elevators non-compliant and had 60 days to fix them or the towers ran the risk of daily fines.

Then late in July, the state said one elevator remains broken and is waiting to be replaced, but the second elevator is fixed, bringing the towers into compliance. 

However, Ferguson, who’s lived there for 10 years, said that since Saturday, the lone working elevator has broken down twice. 

“It was out for five hours, and it’s stopping on every floor,” he said.

We brought those residents’ concerns about the elevator to the state and asked if this impacts the towers’ compliance, and the state said no. 

The Elderly Housing Development and Operations Corporation (EHDOC) owns the towers and is out of state and also receives HUD funding. 

In an email sent by EHDOC, they said the following: 

“On the elevators, the first elevator has been repaired and is fully operational. The brief interruption this week was caused by resident use rather than a mechanical or maintenance issue, and our team responded and resolved it in under one hour. We’ve reminded residents on proper elevator use to help prevent this going forward. For the second elevator, EHDOC has secured funding and is already under contract with our elevator vendor for the repair. That work is now in the procurement and manufacturing phase for the necessary parts. We don’t have a confirmed completion date yet, but our team continues to work closely with the vendor and stay in contact with local and state officials on our progress. We have been working tirelessly in the best interest of Jacksonville Towers’ residents to ensure their comfort and safety, which remains our top priority. We are proud of the ongoing investment in the property to provide high-quality housing and address longstanding maintenance needs. We care deeply for our EHDOC residents and remain by their side throughout this process, with our “Housing with a Heart” mission at the forefront of everything we do.”

Ferguson said he hopes they step in to help. 

“I love living here. I’ve lived here a long time. My parents lived here. I have good friends here. I don’t want to move, but we need things fixed to make it easier to live here,” he said.