美国檀香山公寓建筑因电梯故障维护费用激增

据当地媒体报道，美国檀香山一座高40层的公寓在过去五年内由于一个不完善的电梯系统，维护费用增加三倍，达到了每月1800美元。这笔费用的增加主要是来自于电梯系统的更换需要。据该建筑的一名公寓委员会成员介绍，该建筑在1980年代开始建立，当时的外部电梯系统直接把室内电梯系统安装在建筑外墙，对电梯零件缺乏恰当的保护措施，因此导致了电梯服务时常中断和高昂的修理费用，仅在过去两年就达到了将近100万美元。在前几年，仅仅是为了把两台电梯围好的工程就花费了800万美元，然而因为建筑的地基无法承受多余的重量，这个计划并不可行。现在，电梯设备每逢刮风下雨的天气就要关闭，还经常发生困人事故。同时，公寓方依旧无法摆脱这些维护费用高昂而卖不出去的电梯设备。过去五年，每月的维修费用达到600美元。

ELEVATOR WOES DRIVE UP HonOLULU ConDO TOWER FEES

Over the past five years, a faulty elevator system has taken most of the blame for a tripling of maintenance fees to $US1,800 a month at the 40-story Waikiki Marina tower in Honolulu, the Honolulu Civil Beat reports. The fee increases stem from the need to replace the elevator system. When the tower was built in the early 1980s, the exterior elevator system used was an indoor system mounted on the outside without appropriate protection from the elements, a condominium board member said, leading to service outages and costly repairs — nearly US$1 million over the past two years alone. An effort several years ago only to enclose the two elevators had a price tag of US$8 million, but that plan proved unfeasible because the building’s foundation couldn't support the added weight. The elevators are prone to shutting down during windy and/or rainy weather, often trapping people inside. Meanwhile, owners are stuck with units they can't sell because of the high fees, which, only five years ago, stood at $US600 per month.