Pitt completes renovations on two of eight Cathedral elevators

Pitt has completed the first phase of its Cathedral elevator modernization project.

According to spokesman John Fedele, two elevator cars in the Cathedral of Learning, cars F and J, are now fully renovated and modernized. Both cars are now open for use. The remaining six of the building’s eight main elevators are still scheduled for renovations. To help educate riders on the new elevator system, multiple representatives from Otis Elevator will be on hand on both the ground and first floors of the Cathedral through Wednesday of this week. Pitt began construction on the elevators last August and expects the whole project to be complete sometime next spring. In total, the project cost more than $10 million, with Pitt contributing $200,000 and the rest coming from the Pennsylvania government, Fedele said in an email in June.

Riders, according Fedele, will enter their desired floor into the kiosk which will then direct them to the appropriate car. The kiosks, Fedele said in June, will make riding an elevator more efficient as it will group people who need to go to one floor in the same car, streamlining rides.

In the case of one of these new elevators malfunctioning or the system crashing, Fedele said the elevators have a backup system in place, as well as an emergency mode, and Pitt will be able to repair the affected cars and get them back online without causing inconvenience.

The Pitt News reported in June that Mascaro Construction, LLC and Otis Elevator, the two contractors handling the renovations, expect the second phase of the renovations, which will upgrade cars H and L, to be complete by the end of September.