The elevators at the Guam Capital Investment Corp. building in Hagåtña are back in service after the Department of Public Works issued a "Conditional Permit to Operate" nearly two years after they were shut down over safety concerns.
The elevators were taken out of passenger service in 2024 after territorial inspectors identified safety and maintenance issues. GCIC officials said repairs, structural work and maintenance upgrades were completed before DPW issued the permit allowing the elevators to return to passenger use.
GCIC President Steffen Niu told Guam News Network that GCIC ownership has been working to address the operational status of the elevators for passenger travel, noting that during the last two years, the elevators were periodically authorized for freight movement.
"We received occasional permission for the elevators, upon request, to be operated by GCIC personnel for the movement of furniture and equipment and was not returned to call button public and tenant use until today," Niu said.
He said prior to the Conditional Permit to Operate, "Anyone riding in the elevator for the purpose of personal travel would have been unauthorized and the no travel restriction enforced. I believe this may have had to be enforced at one time or other. But that policy would always have been to enforce the permitted use only."
He said GCIC had to address a myriad of issues that were flagged as either non-compliant or of concern by the territorial elevator inspector in the elevators' annual 2024 inspection report, some of which were repeated findings that GCIC believed "should have been in good condition and fully maintained by the elevator maintenance company" contracted at the time.
"Some of the issues included condition of ropes, the rollers, various parts of some of the doors and door closers, safety testing, and others. Outside the elevator inspector’s scope there was also some rust noted on some parts of the steel structure in and about the top of the elevator hoist way. GCIC took responsibility over the steel structural elements hiring two separate structural engineers and running a permitted steel structural construct for both elevator 1 and 2 hoist ways and a steel separator beam," Niu said.
He emphasized it was part of the process needed to return to passenger travel operations.
"The condition of the elevator hardware as well as a commitment for ongoing maintenance support was addressed by the elevator company in coordination with the DPW to address the outstanding items including condition of ropes, and the rollers, doors and closers, and remaining safety items," Niu said.
The work was completed Aug. 31.
Niu said there were a couple factors that contributed to the "extraordinary service gap."
"First was the original impasse between owner and the elevator service company over the ongoing contractual service and condition of the elevators and the difficulty in sourcing alternative service especially when equipment contains highly proprietary elements," he said.
The second was finding a "clear path forward" for complying with building code elevator requirements.
"With a proprietary elevator, installed it is very difficult to get another company to be able to service it. And if you go out and buy another one from a different dealer, the building code calls for imposition of latest building code requirements over a building constructed years, often and in this case, decades preceding the applicability of those codes," Niu said.
He acknowledged that the lack of accessibility through the elevators for the long period frustrated tenants and building owners who were at an impasse on how elevator service and legal compliance could be maintained. When the elevators were out of service, GCIC provided an open workspace area on the ground floor free to use by all tenants from upper floors as an alternative.
Now that the elevators have returned to normal passenger service, Niu said GCIC building ownership is excited to offer "modernized elevator service" to tenants and patrons.
According to Niu, the elevators are "just the first step of many that will visibly and functionally upgrade the building in security, appearance, safety and functionality."
"The GCIC REIMAGINED program was conceived of with specific hard commitments to improvements to all lobby floors, to all restrooms, to our central and professional entry and appearance, security access which will be implemented throughout the next 12 months in tandem with the elevator modernization program completion in 2027. From here we are only going up, and it is a great time for business to come to or come back home to for the ride up," Niu concluded.
