Kent State Residence Services is putting an emphasis on renovating elevators campuswide, said John White, associate director for administrative operations.

The university is in the first months of a 10-year, $100 million renovation plan in which elevator renovations play a large role.

“[Updating the elevators] has been a focus,” White said. “Elevator maintenance is costly, so it takes a lot of money to maintain them. Sometimes they just break down, so there’s been a big push to get those done.”

Last summer, both Olson Hall and Lake Hall received new elevators and shafts. This summer, Wright and Beall Halls are each getting two new elevators, while Koonce and Leebrick Halls are getting one. Next summer, Koonce and Leebrick will each have their remaining elevators replaced — those halls are used during the summer and therefore need one operational — and McDowell Hall will have both its elevators renovated.

The six elevator modernizations underway this summer are costing Residence Services $1.7 million.

Director of Residence Services Betsy Joseph said she knew it was time to bring all the elevators on campus up to date.

“All the different parts of buildings have lifecycles and lifespans,” Joseph said. “We got to a point with the age of the elevators that we needed to modernize them. We need to make sure they’re operating and safe and they are as vandal-proof as possible. They have a big impact on student experience.”

After next year’s updating, every elevator on the Kent campus will be eight years old or younger. There’s nothing particularly special about that number, though Residence Services feels it’s a good range for being as up to date as possible.

“[There’s] nothing special about eight years, it’s just that we’ve gotten them all done, which is good,” White said. “The elevators in Wright and Koonce right now are probably 30 or 40 years old. They’re just on their last legs.”

Those elevators are perfectly safe, though. As per the Ohio Revised Code, chapter 1301:3-6-04, paragraph A, “At least one elevator inspection per year required under section 4105.10 of the Revised Code shall be performed in conformity with the provisions of the “Guide for Inspection of Elevators, Escalators and Moving Walks.”

“It’s not a safety issue because they’re inspected on a regular basis,” White said. “The state elevator inspectors wouldn’t allow them to run if they were a safety issue.”

Contact Ryan Lewis at [email protected].