Repairs Underway On Quincy Elevator

In Quincy House, what goes up must be fixed.

After suffering from frequent mechanical mishaps, which left some students stranded between floors, the main elevator in New Quincy is undergoing an extensive overhaul this week.

The renovations “should lead to much more reliable vertical transportation,” wrote Quincy House Master Robert P. Kirshner ’70 in a message to the House’s e-mail list. Kirshner signed his message “Master of Elevation Science.”

The repairs are being done by Thyssen of New England.

“I hope they will be done by Friday, but that depends on whether they hit any snags,” Kirshner wrote in an e-mail yesterday to The Crimson.

For the time being, students must take the stairs or use another elevator located near Mill Street to reach their rooms.

The 42-year-old elevator, which serves the about 300 students who live in New Quincy, has a had a series of mechanical failures this school year.

Students left stranded in the elevator had been forced to use the emergency button to signal passers-by for help.

After the mechanical problems began, workers installed a telephone inside the elevator so stranded passengers could call for help.

And signs posted inside the elevator car instructed students: “if stuck, use phone.”

Talk of replacing the elevator started in October but repairs could not begin until recently because parts for the elevator had to be ordered, said Quincy House Senior Tutor Maria Trumpler.

In addition, the renovation is more than a repair, but instead a complete overhaul, she said.

Currently there are no plans to overhaul the two other elevators in New Quincy. One serves students, the other serves the masters’ residence.

House Superintendent Ronald W. Levesque was unavailable for comment yesterday.

—Staff writer Zachary Z. Norman can be reached at znorman@fas.harvard.edu.