Imagine this: you’re in high school and you’re on your way to math class. You hop on the escalator, then walk the rest of the way to your classroom. Other students take the elevator to get to their next class. This is just a typical day at Burlington High School.
In early March, the school, which is located in Burlington, Vermont, reopened after a year of being shut down. At first, the school was closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but just a few days before the school was slated to reopen, a detection of elevated levels of cancer-causing chemicals in the soil and several buildings on the campus extended the closure. The administration quickly adapted, converting a space that was once home to a Macy’s department store into their campus in a span of about six months.
While several renovations have been made to the store to transform it into a suitable learning environment, several aspects have remained intact, most notably, the elevators and escalators that students now use every day to get from one class to another. A freshman at the high school referred to the experience of taking an escalator or elevator to class as “weird, but cool at the same time.”
Considering that the school’s new space now covers 150,000 ft2, the use of the elevators and escalators is an integral part of keeping students’ schedules running smoothly. Check out the escalators in operation in this cool video!
Get more of Elevator World. Sign up for our free e-newsletter.
