There are plenty of elevators on NIU’s campus that are in line for replacement, according to the Board of Trustees.

Zulauf, Davis, Faraday, Graham, Montgomery and Swen Parsons halls, as well as University Health Services, all may have new elevators.

The BOT requested funding from the state for an elevator rehabilitation project.

Eddie Williams, executive vice president of Finance and Facilities and chief of operations, said the safety of students always is a top priority.

“Whatever is being done from a safety perspective is being done,” he said. “If any elevator on this campus is identified unsafe or out of code, it is taken out of operation immediately.”

Zulauf and Davis halls’ elevators are tops on the Board of Trustees’ list for rehabilitation, but they won’t be done this year, Williams said.

He assures, however, that if there’s a need for a project to be completed immediately, the university will find a way.

The BOT’s proposal for the project states that the elevators’ controllers are not equipped with the necessary fire-protection technology and do not comply with local and national codes.

Williams said the elevators do not pose a threat and are up to code.

“They’re trying to get our systems improved to the newest technology,” he said. “It is not a direct health and safety question, it is a question of technology.”

Some students don’t seem to feel threatened while using an elevator.

Tammy Batson, a Ph.D. graduate student, said she feels safe in the elevators in Zulauf, although she prefers to use only one of the elevators.

“When you get in, it goes down to the basement no matter what,” she said.

Shannon Linehan, a sociology graduate student, works on the eighth floor of Zulauf and also said she never feels unsafe.

“They’re fine, I guess,” she said. “They could go a little faster.”

One student wasn’t so sure.

David Phalen, a senior computer science major, said he didn’t feel unsafe, but was a bit nervous.

“I wasn’t really scared,” he said. “I did notice that when it got to the bottom, it did stop real abruptly. I was like, ‘I wonder if that’s normal?’”

Williams assured that the elevators are not a risk.

“The two [elevators] that need to be done are the two that have been identified,” he said. “Our number-one commitment is always health and safety.”Emily Sullivan photo Illustration

Elevators in Zulauf and Davis halls are first on the list to be replaced if a Board of Trustees proposal becomes a reality.