Library Elevator to Shut Down, Town Hall Lift to Open Up

Out-of-service signs are expected to go up on the elevator in the Barrington Public Library on Wednesday, Dec. 18.

As those signs go up, the out-of-service signs on the elevator in the Barrington Town Hall should come down.

“Both are complete rebuilds,” said Town Manager Peter DeAngelis Jr. of the 30 to 40-year-old elevators. "We're told work in Town Hall will be complete by the end of this week."

The only things that won’t be changed on the elevators are the shafts, DeAngelis said. 

Schindler Elevator Corporation of Walpole, Mass., is rebuilding both elevators, said the town manager. Cost of the work is approximately $181,000. The money is coming out of the town’s capital improvement budget. 

With the rebuild of the Town Hall elevator, Barrington’s meeting schedules should revert back to normal in that building in January. Meetings that usually take place on the second floor of the library will be moved to new locations – probably the Senior Center or into Town Hall.

The biggest impact on the library, though, will probably be on certain visitors to the Children’s Room and programs scheduled for the auditorium. Bot are on the second floor.

“Mothers with babies or toddlers in strollers will have to navigate the stairs,” said Debbie Barchi, library director. “So will seniors attending any of the auditorium programs.”

The elevator in the library also is in constant use for library staff moving books and equipment up and down between the two floors, she said.

The rebuild of the library elevator is expected to take at least 4 to 5 weeks, said DeAngelis, or approximately the same amount of time for the Town Hall elevator. The initial time frame was 8 to 10 weeks, he said.