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First Posted: 4/2/2015
As Luzerne County prepares to upgrade two aging courthouse elevators, one in another county building is on the fritz.
One of the two elevators in the county-owned human services building on Pennsylvania Avenue in Wilkes-Barre has been out of order for weeks, said county Operational Services Division Head Tanis Manseau.
Workers say the loss of an elevator in the property’s three-story unit, housing Children and Youth and Mental Health offices, has impacted deliveries and forced employees to make other arrangements to meet with clients who can’t use stairs.
Manseau said a $4,945 contract with Schindler Elevator to repair the human services elevator was finalized Thursday, which means the elevator may be operational as soon as next week.
The process took time because the administration had to verify a new motor motor was needed, obtain quotes from repair companies, draft a contract and present it to the solicitor and manager for their review, Manseau said.
County officials had been planning to replace both 40-year-old elevators at the county courthouse for years as part of the historic structure’s ongoing restoration, but the project became high priority when both stopped working for several hours last May.
During this malfunction, inmates had to be unshackled and escorted up steps so they could appear in courtrooms on the second and third floors. Court officials posted workers at both courthouse entrances in case jurors or others involved in court proceedings were unable to climb steps.
County council adopted a capital budget last year earmarking $550,000 in past-borrowed funds to renovate and update the elevators with modern controls, motors and cabs.
A $424,697 contract with Otis Elevator Company to complete this work was finalized in February, and a notice to proceed was issued Monday, Manseau said.
The refurbishment of both elevators will take about a year and will be timed to ensure one elevator is operational at all times, he said.
Some workers are uneasy about the temporary reduction to one elevator because both elevators are heavily used. The more than century-old courthouse has high ceilings, requiring more steps between floors.
Manseau said all elevators are inspected by the state annually. He’s awaiting approval of a maintenance contract that may reduce future elevator repairs needed in county-owned buildings in Wilkes-Barre.
The county also has two elevators at the Penn Place Building on Pennsylvania Avenue, two at the prison on Water Street and one at the Bernard Brominski Building on North Street.