Even with the recent replacement of several on-campus elevators, Boston University students are still having problems with the machinery, with new incidents of malfunctions and breakdowns arising across campus.
In response to a recent incident at Warren Towers where a student was pulled out of an elevator, BU spokesman Colin Riley said these problems are not always avoidable and can sometimes be attributed to overcrowding.
“We recognize that there will be general mechanical problems, and those will be taken care of,” he said. “Certainly history has shown that most of the breakdowns have been related to cars being filled beyond the capacity and the people using the elevators not making good decisions about overcrowding.”
CAS sophomore Pranab Barman was stuck in the third elevator in C Tower Monday shortly before midnight. He was going down from the ninth floor and got stuck between the fourth and fifth floor.
“[It] shook a little bit and then just stopped,” he said, adding that he used the emergency call button to contact the fire department.
“The response was pretty good,” Barman said. “I pressed the call button and got to someone very fast.”
Firefighters got Barman out of the elevator about 30 minutes later, he said.
As part of routine maintenance of campus facilities, BU decided three years ago to put the four older elevators in Towers in “queue” for replacement, according to Gerald Wall, Buildings and Grounds operations assistant vice president.
“It wasn’t because of anything that was unsafe,” he said. “It was because Towers is one of the oldest dorms and [the elevators] are essentially vintage. Although there was nothing wrong with them, we wanted to update them to be the most efficient elevators of today.”
Towers resident Allison Moore said she is happy BU replaced the East Tower elevators over the summer, but is confused why they are only replacing the West Tower elevators now, when there are more students around.
“I’m happy with the new East Tower elevators,” the College of Arts and Sciences freshman said. “I think BU is doing a pretty good job, besides not replacing the second West Tower elevator over the summer. It seems to be an inconvenience to that side’s residents to have to use only one elevator while the second gets fixed.”
B’G Document Control Manager Dave Gaudet said the last of the four Towers elevators was not replaced over the summer because the dining room was kept open and B’G wanted ensure “handicapped access” was available.
School of Management freshman Agatha Wozniak said the last older elevator, which is currently being replaced, has shown its age and malfunction within the month she has been at BU.
“The old one would shut on you,” she said. “The door would actually hit you and keep shutting without stopping, bypass your floor and always stop on the fifth floor without fail. I know a few students who got stuck on it the first couple weeks of September.”
Students living in the East Tower at the Student Residences at 10 Buick St. have also had issues with elevators breaking down. CAS junior Randy Cohen said he has noticed one of the elevators has not been working for a few days.
“Only one has been running and I have had to wait five or six minutes for it,” he said. “I usually have to wait about a minute when they are all working.”
B’G Assistant Director Marty McKown said it is important for BU to maintain the 200 elevators on campus and abide by the annual state inspection processes to guarantee the safety of all riders.
“An elevator is a mechanical, electrical and sometimes computerized piece of equipment,” he said. “It’s just like your automobile – you have to perform general maintenance and if you don’t, it’s going to break down on you.”
Moore said although the elevators and the problems are inconvenient, situation are most likely worse in other places.
“Elevators should save time and energy,” she said. “Sometimes they don’t save me a whole lot of time even though I’m on the top floor [of Towers].”
Wall said overcrowding is a main problem, and cautioned potential riders to exercise care and be generally aware of any potential hazards when riding any elevator.
“We ask people to use common sense,” he said. “Jamming the elevator door open is not a good idea. People that use the facilities should respect them and notify somebody if something is not right. The sooner we know, we’ll fix it.”
DFP Contributing Writer Dominick Reuter contributed to this report.
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