By Marni Weisz
The escalators in Jorgenson Hall are working, but don’t expect that luxury to last.
All year, students have battled with the people-mover from hell located between Jorgenson Hall and the library. Up until a few weeks ago, escalator breakdowns averaged six per week.
The escalators were really never designed for the amount of students that we have nowadays.” said Peter Callis, coordinator of Contractors and Projects for Physical Plant Operations. He added that the problematic escalators were built 20 years ago for a small institute.
To complicate the situation further, escalator repair requires both units to be shut down. Students have to squeeze past each other on narrow stairs never meant for two-way traffic. Add a couple of bookbags, backpacks and the occasional portfolio case and what may seem like a minor inconvenience becomes a major headache.
“The basic problem is (the escalators’) age and the amount of use they’re getting,” Callis said.
However, over the past few weeks, escalator breakdowns have been the exception rather than the rule and when they do break down, they are repaired within hours. This luxury is the result of a “comprehensive clean up” according to Sabu Pathan, Ryerson’s assistant director of Plant Operations. He says students shouldn’t get too excited, however, since the escalators will require serious attention in the near future.
“We investigated the wear and tear of the equipment and are of the opinion that they need to be looked into, and possibly replaced,” he said.
An escalator breakdown can be caused by anything from a tripped breaker circuit to jammed steps. The minor repairs can be done by Callis or other Ryerson officials, but most other problems require a licensed specialist at a cost of about $120 per hour.
Montgomery Kone, the company that installed the escalators, will fix any problems free of charge if breakdown is the result of equipment construction. However, Rye has to pay if the breakdown is due to vandalism, rocks or coins stuck in the mechanism and other problems that occur by over-use.
Callis said he’s looking to “modernize” the system by spending $60,000 to replace each of the eight units. The total cost of improvements would cost $500,000.
Pathan is opting for a less expensive “overhaul of the system” instead. Although Rye has yet to finalize it with Montgomery Kone, Pathan believes the overhaul will cost between $25,000 and $30,000.
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