Saw a weird elevator setup in the old Denver courthouse

I was working on a call at the Denver courthouse last week and noticed they still have a manual gate elevator from the 1920s... complete with a hand rope for the operator. The counterweight system is exposed in the shaft, which you never see anymore. Has anyone else run into one of these in the wild and know the best way to source parts for them?

3 comments

3 Comments

brianfox3mo ago

My uncle used to work on old elevators and said the hardest part was finding people who still knew how to make the brass fittings. He had a guy in Chicago who would custom cast parts from the original molds. Have you tried reaching out to any historical building preservation groups? They sometimes keep lists of specialty tradespeople.

cole3573mo ago

Better hope the rope doesn't snap.

lisa_brown1mo ago

Classic comment from someone who's never been in a real maintenance room... Those cables are way thicker than they look. Steel cables have a crazy safety margin built in.