Weighing the alternative to an elevator

ONE OF THE many reasons to provide wheelchair access to the basement is to achieve Mishkon’s own renovation priorities. Those priorities include the installation of proper HVAC systems in the basement (Social Hall and kitchen). It appears that according to the state building code’s Section 11B-202.4 (quite apart from the ADA), we will not be allowed to even start those projects unless we can show how someone in a wheelchair can travel to and from the basement.  

In order to provide such access, it appears that Mishkon has two options: 

• spend roughly $200K for an inclined platform lift in the east stairwell (as described here), or 
• spend roughly $400K for a small elevator (as discussed here and here).

Below the jump, this post briefly discusses the trade-offs involved in that big decision.

An inclined platform lift (IPL) would enable a person in a wheelchair to participate in activities in the Social Hall, for about half the cost of a small elevator. It would get the basic job done in a reliable and dignified manner. 

A small elevator would not only enable someone in a wheelchair to move more quickly between floors, but also provide the following amenities to everyone: 

• enable several people at once (with or without a wheelchair) to move between floors together;
• enable equipment (baby strollers, tables and chairs, etc.) to be easily moved between floors; and
• enable safe and convenient access to our underutilized mezzanine, which would otherwise remain forever unavailable for development as a truly useful space.

Are those three added benefits worth an additional $200K? That is the big question! Frankly, it depends upon how ambitious we are.  

Next steps

The Fundraising Committee might see fit to probe whether prospective major donors or grantors would favor an IPL or an elevator. Presumably the board might wish to take up the question, too. 

Given some clear guidance from those two sources, the B&G Committee would engage an architect to pursue one path or the other. Together, they would work toward preparing more compete as-built drawings, conducting a more thorough feasibility analysis, and preparing initial design-layout drawings and then more formal design-development drawings, so as to submit a City permit application.