At Commodore Apartments near 30th and North Pennsylvania Street in Indianapolis, an elevator outage has left residents who have difficulty using stairs facing a daily access challenge. The Marion County Public Health Department issued a violation notice to the landlord, and a court hearing is scheduled for December 3.
The health department received a complaint about the elevator on October 13 and confirmed the violation that day, according to WRTV. A reinspection on October 14 found it still out of service. The property owner is listed as Fall Creek Village I, based at 3515 N. Pennsylvania Street. As WISH-TV reported, Indiana landlords are responsible for maintaining building systems, including elevators, heating and cooling, electrical and plumbing.
What state elevator oversight establishes
According to the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, state inspectors perform annual inspections of regulated lifting devices in settings including offices, factories, hospitals, schools and nursing homes. That routine state oversight is distinct from the county health department’s response to the reported Commodore outage. The state guidance cited here does not specify apartment-specific permitting requirements or explain the complaint-enforcement process for residential elevators.
In an emailed response to Indiana’s I-Team on October 22, property manager Joe Walsh said failed components had to be shipped out of state for factory repair, delaying the work. He said the owner was coordinating with elevator contractors and utility providers to restore service safely. Walsh also said staff were onsite and on call to help residents with groceries, trash removal and getting in and out of the building, and that management would provide updates on the elevator’s status and expected timeline.
Residents Describe the Access Strain
Anthony Foreman, a 78-year-old who lives on the third floor, said the physical strain of the stairs has been rough. “My legs are sore, my feet are sore, my arms are sore,” he said, according to the same report. Foreman said many of the tenants at the complex are senior citizens, and some of his neighbors cannot walk or use the stairs at all. He also said the elevator had broken down before, and that the scheduled court hearing feels too far off when residents can't easily reach groceries or the laundry room in the meantime.
WRTV’s account also included a renter who spoke off-camera and said he had not left his apartment since the elevator stopped working. As of October 27, the elevator remained out of service, and the property management office door was locked during office hours. A sign on the elevator said the repair date was unclear. Residents whose mobility or medical issues make the stairs unsafe can call non-emergency dispatch at 317-327-3811 for help getting up and down.
No Prior Violations, But a Pattern Across the City
The health department said it had not issued any other violations at the Commodore property in the past five years. But the case fits a broader pattern of elevator failures at Indianapolis apartment buildings that has drawn repeated scrutiny from the same county agency. The Marion County Health Department issued a similar emergency violation notice to Turtle Creek Apartments in March 2025 after a woman with a disability said she had not left her unit in 18 days because of a broken elevator, according to WISH-TV. In that case, the complex's parent company cited an estimated two- to three-week lead time on replacement parts.
A similar emergency notice hit Preston Pointe Senior Apartments on Indianapolis's east side in September 2024. Documents showed the property did not comply with the health department's notice within 24 hours, prompting officials to take the owners to court, WRTV reported at the time. One wheelchair-bound resident on the third floor had reportedly been stuck in the building for three weeks, and the State Fire Marshal's office said the elevator had been taken out of service by a maintenance company while the building operated without a valid permit.
Public Housing Towers Face the Same Fight
Elevator breakdowns have also plagued Indianapolis Housing Agency properties. At Barton Tower, where more than 200 residents live, the Indianapolis Fire Department responded for non-working elevators 16 times in 2026, compared with eight responses over the same issue in 2025, Hoodline previously reported in its coverage of a housing agency elevator crisis. One Barton Tower resident told Fox59 she got stuck in an elevator there over a holiday weekend, and Barton Tower and its sister building, Barton Annex, are two of six properties the housing agency runs, according to Fox59. Separately, the Marion County Public Health Department ordered the agency to repair broken air conditioning at Lugar Tower after indoor temperatures reached 91 degrees amid seven open health code violations.
For now, Commodore Apartments tenants are left waiting for parts to arrive from out of state and for the December 3 court date to play out, while leaning on building staff and each other to get groceries, trash, and themselves up and down the stairs.
