CHICOPEE – Residents who have business to conduct at City Hall offices may have noticed it is a bit more difficult to reach certain departments of late, due to the closure of the building’s elevator in May of this year.   

The elevator is being completely redone and is scheduled to reopen in October, according to Director of Planning Lee Pouliot.
Pouliot said the existing elevator has been operating in the building since the 1970s.

“The elevator had reached the end of its useful life,” he explained.  “It’s been in service since the early 70s, so it was time to get the elevator up to date.”

Pouliot said the upgrade made sense because of the age of the unit.

“Due to the age of the elevator, it was becoming tough to find parts needed to fix it,” Pouliot said.  “So, we are replacing the entire system.”

Pouliot said the new elevator will have voice command known as Blind Access and braille writing for the blind and disabled.   

There will also be an updated security system, an emergency phone, and security cameras.

Pouliot said that although the elevator hasn’t been up to code, the city was never fined.   

“The compliance was triggered once the reconstruction began on it,” he said.   

Pouliot said the hardest part of the project was fabricating the new pieces, since there are not many elevator manufacturers around.   

“We had to plan for this to last 18 weeks,” he said.  “We’ve demoed the old elevator, done mason work to the shaft, improved the HVAC and made electrical improvements.”     

Pouliot added that the money for the new elevator is coming from both city funds and a $250,000 grant from the Massachusetts Office on Disability.  The total project cost is approximately $503,000.

Pouliot noted that his department realized handicap accessibility would be an issue with the closure of the elevator, but he has developed a plan for that.

“We recognized that accessibility would be an issue, so we’ve moved all public hearings to the Senior Center until the elevator work is complete,” he explained.      “The Senior Center is fully accessible for the handicapped.  Once the elevator work is completed, public meetings will move back into their respective chambers until the work on the auditorium, along with the rest of City Hall, is completed in December,” Pouliot said.  

First floor offices are still available and anyone who needs assistance from the upper offices can go to the Human Resources office, where special arrangements can be made to offer assistance.