EVERETT — Repairs to a vandalized city elevator may not be completed until late December at the earliest according to an update from Everett’s Government Affairs Director, Jennifer Gregerson. The Grand Avenue Pedestrian Bridge elevator was damaged July 9 when a suspect or suspects ignited a firework inside the compartment, damaging the walls and floor.
In a new update to the Everett City Council, Gregerson says, “We’ve ordered parts. We don’t anticipate delivery for three to four months, so that means the elevator will be out of service until late fall early winter. The reason it’s going to take us so long is there’s sort of multiple parts that are needed.”
The vandalism damaged both the floor structure and side panels of the elevator. In Gregerson’s update she reported, “The side panels are eight weeks out. The floor structure is longer term–three to four months. No work can begin until the floor structure is replaced. There’s a level of risk with whether the structure has been too severely damaged to support the elevator.”
In an effort to expedite the repair process, Gregerson says all approaches are being considered. “The facilities team is working with our building official and city engineer just to see if there is a way to assess the risk that’s there to get the work started earlier,” she advised, while lamenting, “it’s a complicated repair.”
No arrests have been made in the elevator vandalism attack. No security cameras are in proximity to the Grand Avenue Pedestrian Bridge elevator which spans the railroad tracks at 17th Avenue.
Elevator spare parts have become a widespread problem around the U.S. This news report from Houston, embedded below, gives an over-view of the supply chain problems associated with elevator repairs and the lack of interchangeability between parts from the main elevator industry installers.
The EverettPost.com has previously reported on an Everett apartment building where an elevator broke on May 19th and didn’t receive replacement parts until August 3. Those elevator repairs at the Artspace Everett Lofts are still continuing this week.