It’s Still Up and Down for 2 Escalators

For those who marvel that subway builders could bore a tunnel through 2 1/2 miles of rock in the Santa Monica Mountains in a mere 18 months, consider this other feat of government derring-do:

Nearly four years after they broke, the city of Los Angeles has replaced the two escalators--the length of 32 steps--that connect the street-level plaza outside City Hall East to the underground Los Angeles Mall.

That’s not to say, however, that the side-by-side escalators now work all the time.

Only the up escalator chugged along briskly at noon Thursday, carrying downtown shoppers and the lunch bunch from the mall to Main Street.

The down escalator remained frozen in place--mute testimony to one of the city’s most protracted public works embarrassments.

The long delay has taken its toll on escalator devotee Barney, a 7-year-old, 60-pound basset hound who is the top public relations dog at Crown Cards and Gifts, one of about 20 shops and eateries at the mall.

“He’s gotten quite a few more gray hairs over the past four years,” Barney’s owner, Lisa Hoshizaki, said. “It’s stress. From going up and down the stairs.”

Harold Skinner, the city’s General Services maintenance superintendent, apologized for the wait, yet said full success was afoot. “That’s why I’ve got a job. I am a problem-solver,” he said.

When Skinner took on the superintendent’s job late last year, after 14 years as a project supervisor at the city’s Department of Water and Power, the dead escalators quickly became one of his first priorities.

Antiquated and out of compliance with current safety codes, the escalators had been out of commission since the summer of 1994, forcing customers down, and then back up, the 32 steps. Business suffered. “Down like 50%,” said Ana Sloane, owner of a dry-cleaning shop at the base of the escalators.

At the top of the staircase, meanwhile, plywood barriers had become a part of the scenery outside City Hall East, as had red and black signs that proclaimed: “Out of Service for Major Overhaul.”

The signs were only half-true. Out of service, yes. Major overhaul, no. With city officials citing ongoing budget woes, the seasons came and went--but the escalators stayed broken.

Skinner arrived on the job in November. Within a couple weeks, he placed a call to the escalator manufacturer, a firm that also does significant elevator maintenance for the city. He said he “advised” officials at the firm, Montgomery-Kone Inc., that if they didn’t do something about the situation and fast, he would consider yanking their performance bond--which would render them unable to do the profitable elevator maintenance at many other city properties.

Skinner also said city budget officials had approved $300,000 for the escalator job.

By January, a pair of brand-new escalators were being put into place. Cost: $245,000.

Montgomery-Kone executives could not be reached Thursday for comment.

Over the past six months, Skinner said, crews have installed handrails and various coverings. Without fanfare, he said, the new escalators opened June 30.

Since then, however, the down escalator--known in tech-speak as the “No. 1 escalator,” the up escalator being the No. 2--has been plagued with glitches. “It’s mostly a switch adjustment, kinda tweaking them,” Skinner said Thursday.

By midafternoon, the down escalator was once again in operation.

Deane Levenworth, the mayor’s press deputy, was so moved Thursday afternoon after riding the escalators in both directions that he said: “98% of success is implementation. Harold saw a problem, took action and implemented.

“That’s what responsive city government is all about.”