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In doing some investigative work for my newspaper, I have come across some new disturbing information about the death of an Ohio State student that occurred on Friday night.
Andrew Polakowski, an 18 year old freshman from Erie Pennsylvania, was tragically killed when he was the last of a group of students to enter an elevator on the third floor of Stradley Hall, a campus dorm, when the elevator began to descend towards the lobby with the doors open.
What happened next is still unclear, as Polakowski tried to exit the elevator and became pinned between the second and third floors of the building. According to reports from the Franklin County Coroner, Polakowski's abdomen and chest were crushed, and he died of mechanical asphyxia (suffocation).
Police reports have indicated that 24 people were on the elevator at the time of the accident. Given the unit's 2500 limit, it was almost certainly overloaded beyond capacity - each person would have had to weigh 104 pounds or less to remain within the limit.
However, this case is not as clear cut as an overcrowded elevator.
The following is a 2001 report from The Lantern about Ohio State University elevators:
Since then the "lifespan" of an elevator is said to be only 20 years. The average age of the 84 elevators Housing, Food Service and Events are responsible for are 35 years old, said Steven Schick, assistant director of Housing, Food Services, and Event Centers and person in charge of modifying and renovating that department's elevators.
...
Two to three elevators a year are modified by Physical Facilities but 50 should be upgraded according to Lighthiser (maintenance division director of Physical Facilities at OSU).
By Ohio State's own admission, many of the elevators around campus should have been replaced long ago and were out of date even five years ago.
The elevator Andrew Polakowski died on Friday night was installed in 1958. Elevator certificates confirm this - as well as media reports from outlets who have obtained copies of the records. By Ohio State's own estimate from the 2001 Lantern report, the elevator should have been replaced decades ago. Though some elevators on South Campus were renovated in 1998, this was clearly not one of them.
Could a young man's life have been saved if The Ohio State University had kept it's facilities current and up-to-date? Friends, family, and students will not know until the campus police and Ohio Department of Commerce (the state's elevator regulatory agency) finish their investigation.
In the meantime, both elevators in Stradley Hall have been shut down until the investigation is complete, leaving the 400 residents on 11 floors taking the stairs.
For its part, Ohio State president Karen Holbrook released the following statement:
"It is critically important that we understand all the facts about this terrible situation before drawing any conclusion about the cause or causes. I have also asked Student Affairs to arrange for an independent review of all residence hall elevators to give our students added confidence that their elevators are safe and secure."
While it is a nice gesture, for Andrew 'Polo' Polakowski's grieving friends, family, and fellow students, the words may ring on deaf ears as they try to come to terms with why such a promising young man met such an untimely and tragic demise.
Update:
Since this article was written, six elevators on the south campus of Ohio State have now been shut down because, when tested, they failed a brake test. Additionally, the second elevator that was shut down in Stradley Hall was because it failed a load test - where the elevator is tested at its rated weight limit.
