ST. LOUIS — Frustrations are growing for people living in a downtown apartment complex.
Two families who live at the Arcade Apartments on Olive Street tell 5 On Your Side that infrastructure problems have led to damaged belongings and safety hazards.
Among the concerns are exterior doors that don't always close, Tawana Colbert said.
"I want to be able to come home and know that I'm safe here," Colbert said.
She said unauthorized guests and homeless people frequently enter the building. In November, a busted pipe in another part of the building flooded her bathroom.
"It's concerning at times," Colbert said. "I don't know when something else is going to happen."
5 On Your Side was told infrastructure problems plague apartments throughout the building.
"Residents don't have heat, electrical outlets don't work, there's glitches in the light," Latrice Commons said. Earlier this week a fire started in her daughter's closet.
"I opened that door it was all smoke and water, just gushing (out)," Commons said.
It's already been a tough couple of months. Commons said her daughter was one of the students inside Central VPA High School during a deadly school shooting.
And now, as a result of the fire, most of her family's belongings are damaged or destroyed.
"It's around Christmas time. It leaves us like, we don't have anything," the mother said.
Since the fire happened, Commons said her home has been burglarized multiple times. One time, she caught a woman breaking into her apartment.
Both women understand things happen, they just want management to effectively communicate and respond to concerns and issues when they occur.
"Fix things, respond to emails, listen to what tenants are saying," Commons said.
"I love being here, I'm near all of the highways," Colbert said. "Just fix stuff, that's all. If you can't fix it just let us know what's going on. Don't keep ignoring to us, lying to us."
Tenants plan to have a meeting this weekend to determine the next steps.
The apartment management team released the following statement in response to tenant's complaints:
"Dominium is aware of a handful of unrelated maintenance incidents which have recently occurred at Arcade Apartments. We care deeply about our residents and appreciate their continuing patience while we work to navigate the challenges of maintaining a historic building and keeping open lines of communication with all residents.
"Several apartments were recently impacted by flooding following a broken valve, but after working through the night our team was able to resolve the issue.
"A small fire which began in a resident’s backpack impacted multiple units but thanks to the quick response of the fire department no residents were forced to relocate. Our property manager was on scene that evening to meet with all of our impacted residents.
"We are working to resolve heating issues in 20 apartments caused by broken heat pumps. Despite extensive nationwide efforts we have been unable to locate the parts necessary to repair the pumps. While we are working with an engineer to come up with a more permanent solution, all affected residents have been supplied with radiant heating and we are monitoring temperatures in the impacted apartments which have not fallen below 70 degrees.
"Our property managers and 24-hour on-site security team have not been made aware of any reports of break-ins or non-residents living on the property.
"We apologize to our residents for any inconvenience and value their cooperation as we work to keep our community a safe and comfortable place they can be proud to call home."