By Angel Dominguez
On Jan. 20, the Lewis Hall Main Entrance elevator was forced to shut down.
According to campus safety, the elevator was deemed too risky to stay open for students and faculty to utilize.
Its closure was in part due to the failure of the control board, which connects the pulley system of an elevator, risking the possibility of the elevator getting stuck between floor levels.
Sasha Santiago, director of campus safety, admits the maintenance has been a struggle not just for campus safety, but for students trying to navigate Lewis Hall over the past two months.
Santiago praised the work of Ashley Green, assistant director of accommodations and disability access, for working with students that rely on the elevator.
“The office of Accommodations and Disability Access (ADA) partners with campus safety to approve any necessary accommodations or access,” Green shared. “The elevator closure over the past weeks has been a real struggle. To not have that access was difficult, as Dominican is an older campus with limited pathways.”
There was an array of reaction from students as some believe it hurts students with accommodations and disabilities while others aren’t bothered by the closure since they don’t have any classes on the upper flowers of Lewis.
With the elevator being down for 52 days, the fix has been prolonged by the struggle in finding the appropriate replacement parts for the board, costing the university $30,000.
As of Thurs., March 13, the Lewis Hall elevator still sits shut down.
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