Kin Village to install new elevator
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/08/2011 (5174 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Saving for a rainy day has come in handy at Kin Village.
The elevator in the six-storey 55-plus residence broke down in June and of its 50 residents, about eight people are unable to use the stairs and are stuck in their apartments high above the ground floor.
The elevator’s aging piston — which is buried 67 feet below ground — failed, and because the water table is so high, the hole would have to be dug all over again at a cost of anywhere between $120,000 and $200,000, Kin Village board president Sheldon Pollichuk said.
With time and money a factor, Pollichuk says the decision to install a new elevator was simple.
"The completely redesigned elevator is $200,000, so it was a complete no-brainer," Pollichuk said. "The biggest bonus is going to be that … if (the new elevator) has a critical failure, its downtime will be measured in hours and days, not weeks and months. The most time-consuming repair you could make would take four hours."
The board is mandated by Manitoba Housing to put aside funds every year for unexpected capital expenditures.
"We’ve been putting into the fund every year for 20 years now so we’re OK that way," he said.
Removing the old elevator and installing the new one will, however, take time. The project is expected to wrap up in two months.
In the interim, fourth-floor residents like Grace Boles, who has crippling arthritis, will be able to use one of six chairlifts to be installed in the stairwells on each floor.
"This will give some of their freedom back," Pollichuk said. "Residents can use the chairs whenever they like. They’re unassisted and it’s just a chair you sit in, belt yourself in and you hit a button that sends you up or down."
The chairlifts will cost $30,000, and according to code regulations must be removed once the new elevator is installed.
Meanwhile, a team of volunteers has donated time to help residents with reduced mobility do laundry and deliver groceries. They will be on call until the elevator installation is complete.
The chairlifts should be up and running within two weeks.