The Oak View north elevator was down for over 20 days, up until Oct. 28. This meant students were unable to use the only elevator that makes rounds to every floor in the building.

This caused problems for some students who may not be able to walk up the flights of stairs due to disability.

James Zentmeyer, director of Oakland University housing, said that the main issue was that the company that produces the elevators was moving to a new manufacturer, and the north elevator was produced with many problems.

“It’s a new building, so we expected some problems. But in this case, the minor hiccups couldn’t be handled by the maintenance crews,” Zentmeyer said. “Though usually, communication is pretty rapid between different departments”.

Zentmeyer said that the main problem of the elevator was that it was difficult to find exactly what was wrong with it. He said that the main issue was only found after a three hour surveillance was taken, where an employee from the elevator company observed how it broke down and why.

“We get this with a new facility: every ‘i’ isn’t dotted and every ‘t’ isn’t crossed, but it’s lucky we have warranty systems [in] place,” Zentmeyer said. “The elevator was repaired on numerous occasions, but the whole issue was never addressed until the three hour observation time.”

Kristina Whitaker, a Night Watch worker in Oak View Hall, was upset with the duration of time taken to repair the elevator and the numerous breakdowns.

“People are constantly asking if it is down, and if it is, they get mad at us because we don’t know when it will get fixed,” Whitaker said. “They think we want it broken ourselves.”

This problem affected more than just housing employees. Zentmeyer explained that many floors in Oak View are ADA accessible, which means that even though a student in a wheelchair can get from the entry level to their room, it’s an extended trip.

“It’s why we have three elevators,” Zentmeyer said.

Though the problem remains resolved, Zentmeyer has his resentments over the ordeal.

“I’m not happy with the time taken to resolve this problem,” Zentmeyer said. “But for now, the maintenance teams involved have at least come up with some kind of solution.”