No Longer Stuck On The Stairs…

Elevator Finally ‘Going Up’ At Town Hall

By Kendra Bobowick

With emotional ups and downs befitting to an elevator, the Edmond Town Hall’s updated alternative to the many flights of stairs between the Alexandria Room and the basement gymnasium has finally passed inspection and earned its certificate of occupancy.

With relief in his voice, Board of Managers Chairman Jay Gill said the project has been “a long, long, winding road and it is finally at an end.” The certificate of occupancy (CO) was in hand as of Wednesday evening, and Building Administrator Thomas Mahoney is confidant in the new, extra wide elevator that can accommodate a stretcher in the event of an emergency. Immediately after receiving the CO Wednesday afternoon, Mr Mahoney opened the elevator.

Unfinished stonework and railing installations along the walkway still await completion, said Mr Mahoney. Already the walkway that travels the side of the town hall had to be redone when inspection revealed that the grade was not compliant with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards. The only work remaining is railing installation and stonework along the steps, he explained.

Mr Mahoney’s recent wish has been granted, considering last week, he said, “We just want to get this finished,” as yet another brief holdup blocked the project’s completion. As of May 1 board members have awaited a stamp of approval from Chief Building Official Thomas Paternoster, who was unfortunately out of the office last week.

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal is also glad to see the project nearly completed for more reasons than one. “Finally,” he said.

Supplemental grant funding from the state could have been compromised as deadlines passed and the project dragged along, Mr Rosenthal explained. He feels strongly that Newtown’s chances to possibly receive further funds were diminished.

“I think there were options for additional grants that I think they lost because of the length of this project,” he said.

He does not blame the Board of Managers, however. “This isn’t the fault of the staff, but more the architect,” he said.

Tensions developed between architect Alan Black and the Board of Managers and town officials as problems arose and the project lengthened.

Small cities grant funding, administered by the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) could have been jeopardized, he said.

Mr Rosenthal said, “We did lose the chance, at least for now, if we want to do more renovations to the building. We lost a chance at maybe a half-million dollars.”

The improvement project meant to replace an original and now-outdated elevator and to make accompanying upgrades compliant of Americans with Disabilities Act standards was begun in early 2004. Town officials believed the work would take roughly six months.

“We’re going on two years now.” Mr Mahoney said.

As of this week a brand new certificate of occupancy (CO) clears the way for visitors who can now skip the stairs and move past the temporary wooden ramp near the front door and ride the new elevator.

For more than a year longer than anticipated, guests had to cross the threshold into town hall the old-fashioned way — step by step. A long line of setbacks including tensions between the Board of Managers members and architect Alan Black, and failed inspections both in the elevator and outdoor walkway contributed to delays. This week brought an end to frustrations, as the project acquired its long-awaited CO.

Residents can now make use of the ADA-compliant walkway and elevator, and are no longer forced to use the temporary ramp to the left of the front stairs. Minor adjustments prior to this week’s approval created an additional, but brief delay. Last month, the board members noted that Mr Paternoster had looked at the project and raised a few concerns, primarily the placements of lighting fixtures in stairwells adjacent to the new elevator, said Mr Mahoney. Since then, those specific problems have been resolved.

Mr Mahoney felt that last delay simply “hung us up” in seeing the completions of a project that should have taken less than one year, in his estimation.

The temporary wooden ramp alongside the town hall’s main stairway “has been nothing but trouble” lately, Mr Mahoney explained. He has called the police twice in less than a month because of vandalism — in this case damage to the wooden railing along the ramp.

By late April, Mr Mahoney and Building Superintendent Clark Kathan had filed a police report noting the damage done to the railings along the handicap ramp.

In February of 2004, The Borough Zoning Commission approved the Town Hall Board of Manager’s project to improve handicapped accessibility to the building. The elevator was designed to match the building’ parapets in height, and stop at four levels. Walkways and interior improvements accompanied the project. At the time of approval, the construction work was expected to take six months.

As of December 2005, the project failed inspection. An inspector with the state Department of Public Safety’s Bureau of Elevators confirmed that the elevator had failed its preliminary inspection. That same day, Mr Paternoster had said adjustments needed to be made to the pitch of the pathway, which was too steep. In the last month the pathway, which had recently been redone, passed inspection.

Delays prompted town officials to seek extensions form the state Department of Economic and Community Development, which issue grants for the project covering approximately one-third of costs.