For someone with claustrophobia, it’s one of the most common fears they’ll have to face while walking into an elevator.

Unfortunately for claustrophobic Lindsey Thompson, junior in psychology, her fear was tested when she was trapped in an elevator for two and a half hours.

“I was on the verge of crying I was so freaked out. Ever since then I’ve been a little more nervous than I already am about it,” Thompson said.

Thompson was a freshman at the time. After realizing the elevator wasn’t moving after descending for a second she called her community adviser and told him she was trapped. He was able to get a maintenance worker to come — the only problem was that it would take several hours for him to get there.

In the meantime Thompson had to sit in a small, confined space. To distract herself she played games on her phone. Once her floormates woke up and realized she was trapped, they did their best to play music loud enough for her to hear to help her relax.

Once maintenance arrived and opened the door, she did her best to go about her day.

Thompson’s experience, while lengthy, underlines a problem largely tied to the relative age of Iowa State’s infrastructure: the residence hall elevators.

The elevators in Wallace and Wilson have been known to temporarily halt with people inside, the doors remaining closed for seconds to hours at a time. Additional complaints include elevators that would occasionally jolt or the doors staying open a few inches as the elevator climbed or descended, giving a view of the shaft wall between floors. There have also been cases in which doors have had to be pulled open by the students inside.

While some students have experienced issues with Department of Residence elevators, the department does not have its own staff perform maintenance or repairs on elevators.

Eletech, Inc. is the company the Department of Residence uses for maintenance. The contract with Eletech is a flat rate of $10,485.00 per month, covering regular maintenance.  

However, due to other repairs such as vandalism or misuse the total amount averages a total of about $12,000 per month, according to the Department of Residence. 

Residents of Larch note that, despite recent renovations, their two elevators are still breaking down frequently, sometimes simultaneously.

Larch, which was renovated during the summer, is currently having problems with its elevators. Willow has also been renovated but is not experiencing the same problems as Larch. 

Kenneth Meeder, custodian at Friley, said elevator issues are not only a problem for the students but for faculty and staff as well.

“There’s two elevators we can use now, [but one] was down all summer,” Meeder said. “You have no idea what it was like to bring stuff from that end to that end to do what I needed to do.”

For those with limited mobility such as Cierra Featherstone, junior in biology, having both elevators break down would be more than an inconvenient stair climb — it would prevent her from reaching her floor until at least one elevator was fixed.

“I have a genetic disorder that affects my joints,” Featherstone said. “I do take the stairs down, but elevators up is the only way I can go up. If I even try stairs, I can’t get past five steps. I would sleep in my car or have someone carry me up.”

That said, the Department of Residence would be able to provide accommodations to those who need it in such situations. If a dorm becomes inaccessible to a student, they are temporarily housed in any open spots in campus apartments or other accessible campus buildings.

A major component of the elevator problems is the fact that the elevator systems are old and use parts that are not nearly as available as they were years ago. Systems and parts are not as optimal as an elevator designed today would be.

Peter Englin, director of the Department of Residence, said that the DOR staff has tried identifying the issue on signs instead of just saying the elevator is not working. 

“I learned we routinely put signs up about repairs, but they are consistently taken down or ‘modified’ in a manner that warrants their removal. Some comments get profane,” Englin said.

A more substantial effort is to actually modernize the elevators themselves, hopefully alleviating the maintenance issues.

Englin said the elevators are the next project on a long list of infrastructure updates the university has been chipping away at for the past couple years. Wilson is said to have its elevator modernized by 2016 for an estimated $450,000. Wallace is slated to follow in 2017, and Maple’s will be updated in 2018. The costs for those elevators will be comparable to Wilson’s. 

The updates, which are in line with those at Willow and Larch, will include updated microprocessor logic and power controls, machines, signal fixtures that are compliant with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, door equipment, new baked enamel car and hoistway doors and updated hoistway equipment and cab interiors.

The new residence hall, slated to be finished in spring 2017, will have four elevators with larger cars in order to avoid the problems the older residence hall elevators have.

Englin also mentioned the possibility of installing elevators in the elevator-less buildings such as Helser and Roberts in the future in order to improve accessibility and convenience. 

“[Students have] to tell us would [they] rather we spent the money on air conditioning a building or putting in elevators, and there might be some trade-offs [for] which buildings we do first,” Englin said.