Residents Fight Elevator Switch At 83 Brattle St.

If you think you see Mary Poppins descending, umbrella and valise in hand, onto Brattle Street, you're wrong. It's just a resident of 83 Brattle Street trying to get her wordly possessions out of the building without benefit of an elevator.

The College decided several months ago to replace the ancient, cage-type lift which presently serves the six-story building. By agreement with the F.S. Payne Company, demolition will begin on Tuesday. Ralph B. Gates, Director of Buildings and Grounds and Operating Services said that he did not know if another company could have done the work at a more convenient time, since the College "did not take competive bids."

Through an "administrative oversight," the Administration neglected to inform students of the impending disaster. When word leaked out, students panicked and called Gates. He confirmed the date, and on Wednesday a delegation of five students went to see Mrs. Bunting.

According to one of the delegates, Mrs. Bunting was "very sympathetic." She explained that the College had weighed the inconvenience to tenants moving in in the fall and had decided that this was the best time to begin work. She acknowledged that no one had realized the extent of the difficulties the decision creates--fifty residents are seniors who will be moving on the same day with heavy furniture, coop boxes, and books. The demolition will take place during exam period. The janitor will have difficulty removing the garbage.

Gates admitted that even if work starts Tuesday, that new elevator won't be rady till late November, so that new tenants will have to move in without it anyway.

Another problem which students presented to Mrs. Bunting is the width of the steep, wooden stairs: 31 inches. One Cliffie commented that she "would not ask any friend of mine to risk his life carrying anything downstairs that weighed more than ten pounds." Mrs. Bunting tentatively offered to have College workmen or professional movers move everyone out, but another student noted that "anyone carrying things down those stairs is bound to get killed, and Radcliffe workmen have as much right to live as we do."

Mrs. Bunting suggested some possible solutions. She said the College might ask the elevator company to postpone the noisier work until summer (the first step is demolition): students might be able to use dormitory rooms or rooms in the Graduate Center if the noise became unbearable.

No one knows how old the elevator is. It has no inspection sticker. Mrs. Bunting said "We've been keeping our fingers crossed all year." One resident noted, "It creaks, it sighs, it complains, and it breaks down. But so do the stairs. Maybe it's unsafe, but at least its mechanical."