I suggest considering installing a hook on the facade at first floor level -
you probably have seen these simple bent wrought iron hooks that lay flat to
the facade and pivot out. We found an electric winch in an industrial
catalog like Grainger or McMaster Carr and hang from the hook when needed.

We did this on my apartment building (the hook already existed) and it works
great.


Eric Hammarberg
Associate Director of Preservation
Associate
LZA Technology
641 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10011-2014
Telephone: 917.661.8176
Mobile: 917.439.3537
Fax: 917.661.8177
email:  [log in to unmask]



-----Original Message-----
From: Met History [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2002 8:52 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Service stairs


A library where I serve as a trustee is located in a 1917 mansion with the
usual abysmal access to the basement - two flights down, albeit straight
down and about 4.5 feet wide, with no outlandish turns.    As with most such
"invisible" areas, this problem has zero visibility and gets comparable
attention.

I would like to improve this stairway with some minor changes, including
some sort of ramp or pulley system to make incoming shipments and outgoing
trash easier for our staff to handle - right now they just hump it up and
down the stairs.  (An actual elevator system through a sidewalk vault does
not now seem possible.)

Has any subscriber seen something along these lines that they admire?

Christopher Gray, Defender of Building Staff

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