LAST YEAR, Fleming arranged to have our non-working stairwell lift removed and scrapped. Which raises the question as to what exactly had once been there, and what went wrong.
Below the jump, I report on what I have recently learned from modest exploration and inquiry.…
Technically, it was called an inclined platform lift, able to carry a person in a wheelchair. That type of lift is known to be much less reliable than a straight chair lift.
For the record, ours was made by ThyssenKrupp Access, traveling at 18 ft per minute, with a 115-V, 15-amp power supply and low-voltage controls.
It passed its city safety inspection on March 4, 2008, which perhaps can be considered the date that it went into service.*
Unfortunately, the provider went out of business, which eventually left us in the lurch. In an email to our office circa 2019, a rep from the lift’s service-contract vendor, R. F. Erection Co., wrote:
The whole platform should be replaced.… Your unit is technically having so many problems, it's not just a matter of replacing parts anymore.… We have no drawings on site to help us, not enough in our job files to be helpful, and because the company no longer exists, there is no Tech Support to consult with to fill in the gaps.… There is nothing else we can do for this unit.
According to one of the donors, Ed Geil, our point person for the installation of that lift was the late Phil Raider. Ed hinted that the total installed cost was about $60K.
*UPDATE 3/27/25: The dedication ceremony was to be held on May 30, 2009, according to an article by Marvin Wolf in that summer’s issue of the Galim.
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