1 / 1 After months of hearing it would only be 'one more week' until the elevator at Centreville 1 and 2 would be repaired, the tenants gathered Nov. 25 to mark the one-year-anniversary since the five-floor building's sole conveyor stopped working. Jenny Lamothe / Sudbury.com Advertisement
November 25 marks a grim anniversary for the tenants at Centreville, the city-funded non-profit apartment building located at 285 Lourdes: it's now a year since they last had a working elevator. It's been at least eight months since the five-floor building's property manager, Luxor Management Inc, began saying "one more week."
Sudbury.com began hearing "one more week" from Luxor Property Management, the firm in charge of the building, in May of this year.
And in advance of the anniversary? "End of next week," wrote Centreville property manager, Corey Vaillancourt, in a Nov. 24 email.
On a bulletin board outside the elevator at the building, dated Nov. 25: "End of the month."
And so, on Nov. 25, some of the tenants gathered in the building's common area to speak to Sudbury.com, once again on condition of anonymity as they fear repercussions on their housing.
The common room is now open to the tenants after being locked up and used for storage for the last eight months. But while Sudbury.com spoke with the tenants over the course of an hour, the lights went out six times, as they had been changed from switches to motion-sensors. Each time, one of the more physically capable tenants would get up and wave their hands frantically above their head to re-light the room.
In addition to the seven tenants Sudbury.com has spoken with since August, three confirmed tenants at Centreville have connected with us through email, but also do not wish to be named. Other residents asked their neighbours to pass their story along to us as they didn't feel they could even be in the same room with the media without repercussions.
For at least two people, the lack of an elevator makes it not just uncomfortable or difficult to meet in the first-floor room, but physically impossible: one woman on the second floor and one man on the fourth floor have not left their apartments since the elevator went down Nov. 25, 2024. She is in a wheelchair and he has only one leg after an amputation.
The most the man can do, said his neighbour, is ask about the weather. "How is it out there," she said he asks her each time he sees her. There is always a note of hope in his voice, she said. "I try to give him the best description I can, but I don't know what to say."
A woman with cancer lives on the fourth floor, just down from him. She is forced to have her medically required blood transfusions at home as she can't travel to hospital.
On the fourth floor, a man who had been waiting for a double-lung transplant, which he received about six months ago, after six months of a broken elevator. He's ready to go back to work now, but his partner said there is a great cost ahead of him: he needs to save up to get some new tools of his trade, as the toolbox in his apartment is too heavy to get down the stairs.
And that's in addition to the five floors of tenants, the majority of whom are seniors or people with disabilities, who are still negotiating flights of stairs, even to do laundry, after all these months.
And while the property management company continues to say the elevator is back by "end of next week," and the board of directors, who are funded by the city, are able to keep their names off the books, it appears it's the tenants who bear the burden.
Ups and downs at Centreville
Sudbury.com was first contacted by tenants at Centreville after our story on Bonik Tower, a 16-floor-apartment building with no working elevators. On May 26, we reached out to Luxor Management for more information and spoke with Centreville's property manager, Corey Vaillancourt. He told Sudbury.com that the elevator was a pre-arranged replacement, and tenants were advised at the length of time it would be down, which was six months (which would be May.).
He said the elevator would be up by the end of the week we spoke with him in May, but as of Aug.7, the sole elevator was still inoperable, so we called him again, as well as Luxor management, Jay Mancini.
Vailanncourt said the elevator would be operable by "next week," i.e. Aug. 14.
"We are waiting for one part for the fire sensor, something along those lines," he said, before noting he wasn't "really up" on the specific terms. "But we'll have it up and running next week."
As for the other issues the tenants mentioned, Vaillancourt said that all tenants receive a copy of all notices, in addition to their posting on each floor and hallway.
The tenants deny they were made aware of the length of time the elevator would be out or that they were given individual notices.
Who is in charge of Centreville?
To find the owners behind the property manager, Sudbury.com tried the board's email and the company listed as their leasing agent, Mallette-Goring, which shares an office with Luxor Management Inc. Neither the email or calls were returned.
We asked for the names of the board of directors when we spoke with Vaillancourt on Aug. 7.
"I don't think I'm allowed to give you that information," he said at the time. "It's a volunteer role, and I work for them, and basically whatever they tell me, that's what we do for them."
And while the City of Greater Sudbury does not own Centreville, it does operate using taxpayer funds. We were told we'd have to file an Freedom of Information Act request in order to obtain the directors' names, which, incidentally, the city has stated they do not have, despite their obligation to complete "operation reviews."
On Aug. 7, we checked the public corporate listing for the board of directors. We did the same on Nov. 7 and again on Nov. 25. It remains unchanged.
There are six names listed as active directors for Centreville. We spoke with the first, David Cacciotti, who said he resigned from the board more than 10 years ago and was upset to learn he was still listed. Another active director died in 2024. Two others are in their 80s, at least, and one other is listed as living in the building, but the tenants Sudbury.com spoke with do not know her.
On Nov. 21, ahead of the one-year anniversary of the elevator's stoppage, Sudbury.com requested and asked for an interview with Luxor president, Jay Mancini about the repair delay, as well as requesting the names of and an interview with the board of directors.
Mancini replied an hour later with: "Thanks for your note. I've forwarded this email to the Property Manager of Centreville 1 & 2 Non-Profit Housing now. They will present your note to the Board of Directors, for their review."
The property manager, Vaillancourt, replied late afternoon on Nov. 24
"The reason for the delays is that TSSA has not passed the new elevator installed by Kone Elevator," wrote Vaillancourt in an email. "The identified deficiencies are currently being addressed, and as of last Thursday, November 20, I was informed that they are hoping to have it operational by the end of next week. At this point, we are dependent on TSSA's approval."
And as for the names and an interview with the board of directors?
"I spoke with the Board of Directors, and they do not feel there is a need for an interview, as the update remains unchanged."
Jenny Lamothe covers vulnerable and marginalized populations, as well as housing issues and the justice system for Sudbury.com.