Out of service?

Unresponsive elevators are fast becoming a thing of the past for Harnwell College House residents, though they may experience inconvenience on the way up.

Over the next year, the building will undergo $1.75 million of extensive elevator renovations, which have already been finished in Rodin College House and will occur in Harrison College House following work in Harnwell, according to Mariette Buchman, director of Design and Construction Management.

Each elevator will be out-of-service during its renovation period. Buchman said the one-elevator-at-a-time process was adopted to minimize any inconveniences to residents.

The projects form the core of an ongoing restoration of Penn's three high rises.

Construction on the first of four Harnwell elevators was completed this past summer. After move in, renovations on the second began and will finish in January 2009.

The third car will be renovated during spring semester, and the fourth elevator is slated to be renovated over the summer of 2009. All four cars will also be available during move-out next May.

Improvements to the new elevators include new doors and hardware on all floors. Upgraded controllers will also shorten wait time, which Buchman believes will be the biggest benefit.

"It's going to better allow elevators to talk to each other and the closest elevator will go to the floor you're on," said Buchman, who noted that currently, "the elevators sometimes make stupid mistakes and travel 12 floors when there's another one just two floors away."

The most noticeable change for students will likely be new hall buttons installed on each floor that allow students to see the floor the cars are currently on - what Buchman called a "goodwill gesture" meant to make the wait more bearable.

College sophomore Bao Tram, who lives on a low floor of Harnwell, said, "I usually try not to use the elevators anyway since I can just take the stairs, but because one is under construction I'm even more reluctant to use them."

For students for whom the stairs are not an option, construction is slightly more frustrating.

"It's very troublesome because the elevators are slow enough as is, and having 25 percent of them under renovations certainly doesn't help," said College sophomore Michael Hiatt.

However, Hiatt believes the renovations are necessary and that the temporary inconveniences will be worthwhile if they eventually lead to faster elevators overall.

Buchman said she foresees no significant impact for residents and added that the newer elevators will break down less frequently.

"Is there going to be a noticeable increase in performance? It comes down to seconds, but eight seconds can be a lot longer than four when you're just standing there," said Buchman.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.