Harrison College House and Harnwell College House are expected to receive upgrades to their elevators within the next two years.
At a Sept. 26 University Board of Trustees meeting, Penn authorized up to $13,800,000 for the replacement of elevators in the Harnwell and Harrison College Houses. The replacement follows the previous successful modernization of the elevators in Rodin College House.
In an interview with The Daily Pennsylvanian, Executive Director of Design and Construction of Penn Facilities & Real Estate Services Chris Kern said that bidding for the construction is occurring now. He added that "the actual modernization work on site will start around this time next year in 2025.”
The construction will begin with the worst elevator car in both College Houses, which the contractors will take offline while the other cars will continue to operate — a process will continue over a two-year timeline until all the cars are fully modernized, according to Kern. During that period, repairs and preventative maintenance will continue as needed.
The upgrades will include installing new wall panels, new lighting, new doors, operational hardware, motors, safety equipment, and communications equipment, Kern said. These renovations are expected to be within the allotted budget.
Jennifer Rizzi, the communications director for FRES, added that the elevators would have a coordinated operation that optimizes service with increased speed and reduced wait times. She said that the new elevators will be capable of being modified after installation to respond to emerging needs and travel patterns.
Faramarz Vakili, the executive director of operations & maintenance of FRES, attributed frequent elevator malfunctions in the high rise buildings to both normal wear and improper student behavior.
“We are constantly seeing that these doors are being kicked. The footprints are off to five feet off the ground from inside the elevator,” Vakili said. “Just recently, we had a situation where 21 students pushed themselves into one car, and because of safety, the elevators stopped.”
He urged students to treat the equipment responsibly and help raise awareness about proper usage.
“At times … one elevator is taken offline for special usage, and therefore does not become available for the students and that creates an impression that that elevator is down,” Vakili said. “We’re going to work with Housing and our team to minimize those.”
Wharton sophomore Sungkyu Jin, who lives in Harnwell, said that he sees an elevator out of service around once or twice a month. While the elevator maintenance does not affect his daily routine, he said that he is not regularly updated on maintenance schedules.
“Sometimes I would ride in an elevator not knowing it is out of service, so I would have to wait for another one instead,” Jin said. “If there is maintenance scheduled, maybe putting a notice by the gate entrance would be helpful.”
College sophomore and Harrison resident Adeoluwa Adeoye disagreed, saying that — while he frequently sees elevators out of service — he receives “frequent updates on the elevator maintenance” and thinks they do a “good job” communicating.
“I find that there’s at least one elevator out of service every week. In fact, I think one of the elevators is out of service right now as I’m typing this,” Adeoye wrote. “I haven’t heard or seen anyone abuse the weight limit [of the elevators].”
College sophomore Clara Shin, who lives in Harrison, said that she remembers all four elevators in Harrison being down simultaneously at one point — adding that this caused inconvenience and disruption to many residents.
“[The outages] make me a little too nervous to leave right on time if I have an important meeting scheduled,” Shin said.
When told about Vakili's attribution for elevator malfunctions, she said that she also has neither personally seen nor heard of people kicking elevators.
“I think that it’s more of an issue of speed and oftentimes the elevators are just not responding to the buttons so I think it’s more of a problem of the elevators themselves rather than the malpractice of the users,” Shin said.
Nursing sophomore and Harrison resident Hyemin Oh also described the elevators as “slow," adding that "when you're in a rush, it’s not very effective."
"I think for most people who live up to the 4th floor, they just use the stairs,” Oh said.
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