Chicago'daki Son İnsan Tarafından Kullanılan Asansörlerin Kapatılması
By Sophie Goodwin | Son Bakış | 1 Ağustos 2025
Okuma süresi 2 dakika
Chicago Güzel Sanatlar Binası'nda, 1898 yılına ait olduğu düşünülen son insanlı Otis asansörleri, insan-insan etkileşiminin inatla büyüleyici bir ritüelini canlı tutuyor. Operatörler uzun zamandır binanın dokusunun ve tiyatro topluluğunun bir parçası olmuş, yavaş bir tempo ve dişlilerin müzikal uğultusu ile manuel kinetik enerji katmışlardır. Antika asansörlerin 2023 yılında değiştirilmesi kararı, artan parça maliyetleri ve son tamircinin emekli olması gerekçesiyle alınmıştır; 2025 ortalarında planlanan değiştirme işlemi ertelenmiş ve asansörler 2026 sonuna kadar hizmet vermeye devam edecektir. Sanat yönetmeni Jacob Harvey, bu eski kalıntıyı kaybetmekten duyduğu üzüntüyü dile getiriyor.
Sophie Goodwin tarafından
The last human-operated elevator in Chicago, Illinois, is keeping a long-gone tradition alive. While you won't find the old ashtrays of the past in these elevators, the manually operated Otis elevators are believed to be the original elevators of the Fine Arts Building on South Michigan Avenue, dating back to 1898. Jacob Harvey, managing artistic director of the theater, explained the charm of the outdated vertical-transportation devices, saying:
"What’s really kind of remarkable about it is the human-to-human interaction that comes with that. And the elevator operators are very much part of the fabric and the community of a building like the Fine Arts Building, because they have personal relationships with all of us."
While the elevator operators have become an integral part of the building's staff and no doubt added to the experience of the theater, it was announced in 2023 that the building would retire the man-powered elevators in favor of more modern models. Harvey said that not only are the parts becoming too expensive to maintain the antique elevators, but the last working elevator mechanic that services the Fine Arts Building's elevators is retiring. The elevators were supposed to be replaced by mid-2025, but due to delays, the human-operated elevators are still in operation and will be through the end of 2026. Harvey is sad to see the charming relics of the past go, saying:
"For all of its ups and downs and whatnot, you can’t be in a rush to go anywhere in the Fine Arts Building, that’s for sure. But there’s something magical that comes along with that. And as I’m sitting next to the elevator and like hearing it move around, you’re reminded of the musicality of that, too. How the gears working and that sort of manual kinetic energy around it just doesn’t exist anymore. So, it’s nice to remember something from yesteryear."
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