Whimsy meets history in and around metropolis.

Curved Mitsubishi Electric Escalators at Wynn Boston Harbor

Featuring Mitsubishi Electric’s signature curved escalators framing a US$28-million statue of the cartoon character Popeye, the lobby of Wynn Boston Harbor casino in Everett, Massachusetts, will look like something out of a dream. Mitsubishi Electric crews from Japan were onsite in February installing the units, which involved precise measurements due to the curve, the Everett Independent reported. Compared to standard escalators that have a price tag of approximately US$400,000, the curved pair costs about US$5.4 million, the source said. Wynn Boston Harbor spokesman Greg John said the escalators are in line with the entire project, which aims to “turn ordinary things into art.”

Elevator Historical Society Finds Exhibit Space

Stephen K. Comley is an avid collector of elevator parts and memorabilia who has enjoyed a long career repairing and maintaining elevators. Comley spearheaded the recent opening of the nation’s only physical elevator museum exhibit, now located in the Dorchester section of Boston. Comley has spent his career in the elevator industry and now manages elevator needs for the Portsmouth Naval Shipyards, in addition to his new role as chairman of the Elevator Historical Society’s board and museum curator.

The most recent elevator museum was in Long Island City, New York, and run by Patrick Carr. Space and funding led to its closure. Carr, now a director of the new museum, contributed numerous artifacts to Comley’s collection (which had long since filled his basement and garage), all of which are now on display at the new location. David T. Morgan, vice president at Massachusetts AFL-CIO, procured space in the International Union of Elevator Constructors Local 4 Building meeting hall in Dorchester, an expansive venue that can accommodate more than 400 people.

Visitors will find more than 100 years of elevator memorabilia on display. Among Comley’s favorites is an original 1947 flywheel overspeed governor from the passenger elevator at the Mount Washington Hotel in New Hampshire, which was used to safeguard the elevator and thousands of passengers for 70 years. Also on display is an original wooden step used in the first “electric stairs,” the precursor to the modern escalator, and an Otis order book from the 1870s donated by Carr with purchases entered by a son of Elisha Graves Otis.

Morgan and Comley are exploring the funding options, nonprofit status and feasibility of a full-time public museum, but, in the meantime, the museum operates with limited exhibition hours in Dorchester. For more information, email Comley at ssncomley@comcast.net. Reported by Richard Mintzer.