Both elevators at Buckeye Towers have been out of service for almost two weeks, leaving many elderly and disabled residents to navigate stairs—or stay inside their apartments—while firefighters, village staff, and volunteers ferry food and medicine.
At Thursday’s Scioto County Commissioners meeting, Commissioner Merit Smith pushed back on the idea that the situation is dire and said repairs remain “probably going to be two weeks” away.
“I went up there this week and talked to the village manager. He said, ‘Things are going great over there considering the circumstances.’ It’s a bad situation but they’re doing well,” Smith said. He added that New Boston firefighters are assisting residents, with equipment loaned by Portsmouth Ambulance, and that since the outage began “they’ve had to assist 6 or 7 people.”
Smith said he also spoke with the building’s manager, who told him the part needed is a new board and that the timeline is about two weeks. According to Smith, “so far there have been no complaints from the residents because basically people have been there to help get their medicines and food up and down to them.” He praised community support, noting a resident who “donated pizzas,” a catering group planning to provide hot meals this weekend, and New Boston cheerleaders and basketball players volunteering to carry meals upstairs.
“When you get up there and you see it, there’s a lot of good things going on. A lot of people volunteering,” Smith said. He added that residents he spoke with told him they’ve had “no problems whatsoever” and “gotten whatever they needed.”
On fire safety, Smith said the lack of elevators does not create a new hazard because “residents would have to take the stairs anyway since elevators shut down.”
He also said the elevators “are not old,” noting they were installed in 2007, and suggested “a lot of things [have been] mis-reported.”
A Note of Skepticism—Without Dismissing the Help
There’s clear evidence of neighbors helping neighbors, and that matters. But “no complaints” and “6 or 7 assists” are anecdotes, not full data. For residents who use walkers, wheelchairs, oxygen, or simply cannot manage multiple flights safely, a prolonged outage can effectively confine them to their apartments even with meal deliveries. That may not be an “emergency” every hour, but it is a serious access problem the longer it drags on.
Key questions still unanswered:
- Timeline proof: Who is the repair vendor, what part exactly is on order, and is there a confirmed ship/install date—not just an estimate?
- Redundancy: What contingency plan is in place if the second week stretches longer?
What Officials Say Is Working Now
- Fire Department assists: New Boston FD is helping residents “up and down the steps,” with equipment borrowed from Portsmouth Ambulance, per Smith.
- Community support: Food deliveries, pizzas, a weekend hot-meal plan, and student volunteers to carry meals upstairs at Buckeye Towers.
- On-site coordination: Smith says the village manager and building manager are engaged and communicating with him.
What We’ll Watch Next
- Whether the elevator board arrives and is installed within the two-week window cited by Smith.
- Any increase in medical calls or lift assists at Buckeye Towers that would suggest the situation is straining first responders.
- Why did the residents all get a letter asking how they would like to vacate their homes?
- Why did this happen on the day the building was sold to a new, out of state “predatory” company?
- What’s the true relationship between this new company and Cardinal Treatment Centers?
- Who are the local attorneys involved in these large purchase and why are they so quiet?
- Who are the real estate agents that have connections with these “investors” from New Jersey?
- How much of our county has quietly been sold off to mysterious out of state companies?