Both elevators at a Chinatown public housing project for the elderly and disabled were down for four days this week, leaving some residents stranded in their apartments because they weren't able to take the stairs.

These were just the latest in a string of problems with the elevators at Kalanihuia, which is located at 1220 'A'ala St. and is overseen by the Hawaii Public Housing Authority.

Public housing figures show that from July 1 to Sept. 30, the Kalanihuia elevators broke 30 times. Most of the elevator breakdowns lasted less than a day.

This is the first time in several years that both elevators at Kalanihuia have gone down for more than a day, officials said. But the breakdown is symptomatic of the aging elevator systems at public housing projects statewide.

Chad Taniguchi, the executive director of the housing authority, which oversees the 15-story Kalanihuia apartment building, said residents were told about the elevator breakdowns with signs in the hallways.

Staff went door-to-door to check on tenants on the fourth day. And they also earlier reached out to tenants in wheelchairs.

One of the elevators at Kalanihuia broke Nov. 30 and wasn't back on until Wednesday. The other broke Nov. 27 and isn't expected to be fixed until Dec. 9 or 10. The two elevators were installed in 1968.

Taniguchi said staff members at the project, meant for seniors and disabled people who are still able to take care of themselves, helped some residents down the stairs while the elevators were down. They also called firefighters to help carry a 58-year-old woman in a wheelchair down the stairs to treatment.

The woman needed to get to a regular dialysis appointment, Taniguchi said.

Many of the elevators at public housing projects are as old as the projects themselves, which often date to the 1960s. The state Legislature appropriated $11 million in the last session for elevator repairs and the installation of security cameras. About $8.5 million of the total will go to elevator maintenance.

The state is working to modernize 34 elevators at 18 projects.