Ribbon-cutting for the restored Hippodrome elevator to be held on August 22
Press release from the City of Gainesville
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The City of Gainesville’s Wild Spaces & Public Places Department, the Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, and The Hippodrome Theatre invite the public to a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the return to service of the historic elevator at the Old Post Office Building and Federal Courthouse (The Hippodrome Theatre).
WHERE: 25 SE 2nd Place
WHEN: Noon on Friday, August 22
About the Elevator: Originally installed in 1924 by the Otis Elevator Co., the manually operated elevator served the building for nearly a century before being taken out of service in January 2024 due to safety concerns. Following an assessment and restoration by Eletech Elevator Co., in collaboration with a master machinist, the elevator has been fully repaired at a cost of $135,799.
The building, completed in 1911, has been a Gainesville landmark for more than 100 years and was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1981.
Community members are invited to attend and celebrate the preservation of this unique piece of local and state history.
more virtue signaling waste of time
I worked for the Hippodrome back in the 1980s, and I have to say that is the coolest elevator in Gainesville. It was hard to master how to stop right on floor level, but once I got it I was thrilled. So glad they were able to restore it!
$135,799 is a lot of money in times when it could be put to much better use. Contrary to what you’ve been told God didn’t rest on the Seventh Day – Nope, he made STAIRS (there’s even a stairway to Heaven people!).
Replacing the elevator would probably cost that or more, without the charm and historical signifigance. Not only are the plays at the Hipp on the 2nd floor, and many of the patrons elderly, but soon after the original building was built as the post office and federal building, there was enough civic pride and funds to add an elevator. Somehow we’re too broke and cheap to pull that off now? Hey, I’ll chip in my $.75.