Harrison elevators still slow, unreliable

Leaving residents trapped, late and just plain frustrated, the elevators in Harrison College House continue to elicit complaints.

And unlike their recently replaced counterparts in Hamilton College House, Harrison elevators -- last upgraded eight years ago -- are not scheduled for replacement.

Next summer's renovations to Harrison will include an "upgrading of the controls," according to Vice President for Facilities and Real Estate Services Omar Blaik.

"I think it's pathetic considering we pay $40,000 a year," College sophomore Gina Talley said, listing both long wait times and serial maintenance problems as her main source of contention with the high rise elevators.

"I go out and press [the elevator button], then go back to my room," Talley added. "I come back out and it's usually there."

Some, like Wharton sophomore Justin Lo, have spent their waiting time theorizing just what holds up the slow-moving cars.

"It'll just go sit on the bottom floor for like 15 minutes," Lo said.

Facilities employees Michael Coleman, Betsy Robinson and Juan Suarez did not return repeated phone calls to discuss the current state of Harrison's elevators.

Yet, according to other officials from Facilities and Otis Elevator Company -- the elevator contract firm that returned again to Harrison yesterday to fill a maintenance request -- the elevators are all in working order.

"At present, they're working just fine," said Elizabeth Lynch, an Otis employee.

Officials add that the elevator service has been improving.

"The 31-year-old elevators... at Harrison House over the past 12 months have operated with approximately 42 percent less entrapments and 30 percent less service calls than the year before," Executive Vice President spokesman Tony Sorrentino wrote in an e-mail statement.

But for some Harrison residents, the reported improvements are less than reassuring.

Upon hearing the improvement statistics, College senior Caleb Hayashi was not persuaded.

"I've lived here for three years, and it's the same," he said, adding that he didn't expect conditions to improve.

Even for the more optimistic, the elevators are regarded as a persistent problem.

"It's not an issue that ever goes away," Harrison House Coordinator Jennifer Hook said.

"I just know it's a tall building, and you darn well need the elevators to get to the top," Hook said. Maintenance problems "affect people's lives daily."

Noting that he has seen improvement in elevator service, Harrison House Dean Frank Pellicone still spent half an hour on Tuesday stuck in a house elevator.

"We have no choice but to be optimistic," he said, noting that Facilities officials have been working "diligently" on resolving the elevator problem.

"My Ph.D. is in Italian literature, and they tell me that they're fine," Pellicone added, saying that he expects Facilities will improve the problems.

Expressing the same desire, College sophomore Chigozie Amadi said, "Hopefully they'll get better."

"I look at it as a natural thing I have to use," added Amadi, a 16th floor resident. "If I could get out of it, I would."

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