[In the player above, watch previous FOX 8 News coverage on recent break-ins at West Side Market.]

CLEVELAND (WJW) — All four elevators at the city-owned West Side Market were disabled Wednesday, but at least one was expected to be fixed by the end of the day, according to a city spokesperson.

Though there are four elevators, for months, only one of them has actually worked, market vendor D.W. Whitaker Meats posted to Twitter. But on Wednesday morning, that one quit working too.

“It’s a Market day, and we have no way of getting our products up and down,” reads the tweet, which calls for city council members to “hold this landlord accountable.”

For buildings that are at least six stories tall or 75 feet above grade level, city building code requires at least one elevator to be in operation at all times for firefighters to use.

One of the four non-working elevators was expected to be repaired by the end of the day, the city of Cleveland said in a statement on Wednesday afternoon:

Today’s elevator issue is a perfect example of why investing in the infrastructure of the West Side Market is so critical for the future of this gem in our city.

Vendors, visitors, and patrons of the Market deserve to work, shop, and experience the Market in a way that is safe, convenient, and comfortable.

As the owners of this property, it is our responsibility to make much-needed investments to keep the Market running and to ensure that this landmark and its businesses are set up for success for generations to come.  

We are currently working on repairs and expect to have one of the Market’s four elevators up and running by the end of the day. We are sorry for the inconvenience this has created for vendors and Market customers.

City of Cleveland

The city is currently in the second phase of a plan to transition management of the market to a newly created nonprofit. The advisory committee’s most recent meeting was in February.

In planning meetings last summer with individual vendors, officials heard concerns that the freight elevators “break frequently,” according to a report on the master plan for the market.

Many of the market’s merchants are solely reliant on sales at the market, according to the report, and reported lower sales, “reflecting both a decades-long trend and pandemic disruptions,” the report reads.