The central elevators at the Lowry Apartments have been out of service since Saturday, forcing tenants of the 11-story building to take the stairs or try their luck with the freight elevator, which one tenant described as touch-and-go.

Ciela Arguelles, a mother of three small kids who gave birth by cesarean section to her newborn son in July, said she’s been paying property owner Madison Equities $1,250 monthly with the help of a rent assistance program that is expiring.

That’s left her with three pressing questions, said Arguelles, 21, holding up cellphone video of the dog feces on the carpet outside her fourth-floor apartment and the giant roach she found inside her residence. First, what is Madison Equities doing with her money? Second, if she has to move out in a hurry, how can she do that without elevator access? And third, where else can she move?

Alarmed by conditions he called deplorable, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Arguelles outside City Hall on Monday evening and said he shared many of the same questions as the 134 or so lease-holders at the Lowry, and that he was dedicated to finding answers. Carter said he had taken a tour that day of the once-storied building, which sits around the corner from City Hall at Fourth and Wabasha streets, with City Attorney Lyndsey Olson and inspectors from the city Department of Safety and Inspections.

“It was one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” Carter said. “It’s disgusting and it’s unacceptable.”

Lenders attempting to acquire the building through the foreclosure process have already filed a request in Ramsey County District Court for a court-appointed receiver to collect rents, pay bills and better manage the property in advance of a recently-delayed sheriff’s sale now scheduled for early September.

City Attorney Lyndsey Olson said the city on Tuesday would ask the courts to fast-track the request for a receivership. Olson said several units in the building have already been condemned as a result of mice and insect infestations, among other issues, and the city has informed Madison Equities it is on the verge of losing its fire certificate of occupancy, which could force tenants out by April unless conditions improve.

Also Tuesday, the mayor’s office plans to send Madison Equities a one-page letter, signed by Carter, indicating “my outrage related to the unacceptable condition of your property at 345 Wabasha Street (Lowry Apartments), which has endangered the health, safety and property of over 100 residents. … This urgent situation requires immediate action.”

Carter and Olson said Monday they would explore legal and code enforcement options, and urge Madison Equities to move tenants to another one of its properties while the Lowry is brought up to code.

Efforts to reach Madison Equities principal Rosemary Kortgard for comment have been unsuccessful over the past month.

Olson showed cellphone pictures she had taken of clumps of dog feces on hallway carpeting, trash covering the vestibule by the elevator doors and a section of concrete stairwell propped up by a 2-by-4 stud. She also recognized, she said, that moving too quickly would leave more than 100 families homeless.

“Every option is on the table for us,” Carter said. “There is a delicate balance between making sure people have an opportunity to transition in a way that is healthy … and also making sure basic fire code safety is honored, because this is an unsafe place to live, and it’s just untenable and unsustainable.”

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