The city's fire department shut down the elevator inside the tier parking garage on Cunningham Street Tuesday after their second or third trip there on that day alone to free trapped riders.

Capt. Tom Fair said the elevator was in good condition for many years, and there were minimal calls to rescue passengers stuck inside.

“We're over there probably every other day now, and sometimes it's consecutive days,” Fair said. “We're having more and more issues with it lately.”

He said the car seems to be stalling between the first and second floors.

Firefighters shout up the shaft from the ground floor, Fair said, to alert the passenger they are there.

The elevator is then powered down and reset, which occasionally fixes it and allows the passenger to use the button to get to the floor they want.

But most times, Fair said, firefighters must manually pull the car down and force the doors open to free the rider.

“It's our job and we do it, but I feel bad for the people,” Fair said. “If you park on the fourth floor and you're a little elderly, you don't want to use the stairs.”

One of those riders is Kandi Nassy, who works at a Main Street business.

Two technicians at her place of employment, who park at the top of the tier garage to take advantage of reduced meter fees, got stuck in the elevator Jan. 21. They were inside for about 15 minutes before being freed by firefighters.

In December, Nassy's adult children were trapped for 40 minutes in the elevator on their way to her workplace.

After these events, Nassy eschewed riding the elevator and parked in the lower levels of the tier or the street.

But Nassy noticed Monday that the light bulb that had been burnt out in the elevator had been replaced, so she assumed the mechanical issues had been repaired as well.

Nassy parked her car at the top of the tier and uneventfully rode the elevator down to the ground floor.

After work, she hopped on and hit the “5” button, and the car began ascending.

“Then, it made a sort of little nudge, and stopped,” Nassy said.

Having helped maintain elevators in the Morgan Center building in her previous job, she knew to open the little door near the buttons to call for help.

“When I pushed the button, the whole electronic (assembly) fell out of the wall,” she said.

She pushed the assembly back into the box and tried to Google the telephone number for the city police, but her phone shut off due to the cold temperatures.

After warming it up for a minute, she managed to call 911 and alert the dispatcher that she was stuck in the elevator.

Nassy is unsure why it took an hour to free her from the small elevator, but she said she wasn't afraid because of her knowledge of the machines.

She was glad she decided that morning to wear her warmest winter coat, which she does not normally use.

“By the time an hour passed, my feet started to get cold,” said Nassy, who is a Concord Township supervisor.

She said the city should have the money to properly maintain the elevator, given they recently raised parking rates and are collecting parking fees from the new Centre City parking garage on South McKean Street.

“I'm just frustrated,” Nassy said.

Fair said the elevator was shut down and marked “out of order” after Nassy was freed by firefighters.

Jim Chiprean, the city's parking manager, seemed unaware of the number of passengers stranded in the elevator in the last six weeks or so.

He said a repair person is called every time the elevator malfunctions and a rider is trapped, and that a worker has repaired the elevator a few times in the last couple months.

“The elevator is well-maintained and well-serviced,” Chiprean said.

He said a repairman from the Otis Elevator company was en route Monday morning to fix the tier's elevator.

“Sometimes, sensors break,” Chiprean said.

Because he didn't know if the repair job would require parts to be ordered, Chiprean could not estimate when the elevator would be back up and running.

He said revenue is not an issue in maintaining the elevator.

“If we have to put some money into it, there are some funds available,” he said.

Chiprean said his goal is to have well-maintained, convenient and economical properties in the city for shoppers, diners, visitors and employees.

“The elevator is reliable,” he said.

Dispatchers at the county 911 center once again sent firefighters to the elevator at 2 p.m. Tuesday, but Chiprean confirmed it was because the repairman was testing the emergency button.

Chiprean said while he hoped the elevator would be back up and running by Tuesday evening, he decided in the interest of safety to keep the car closed down through Monday due to the extreme low temperatures predicted for the rest of the week.