City of Asheville Elevator Modernization

MHAworks was part of the WeaverCooke Construction design-build team hired by The City of Asheville to modernize three historic elevators inside of Asheville City Hall. The goal of this project was to modernize the original Otis elevators and associated equipment with as little visual change as possible to preserve the historic charm of the building. This project met each of the requirements of the Asheville Historic Resources Commission and the Secretary of the Interior’s standards for the treatment of historic properties.

One by one, each elevator car was taken out of service and sent to a shop for removal of the existing finishes, modifications to accommodate updated controls and reinstalled in their original locations. Critical life safety improvements such as replacing the car doors with matching fire-rated brass doors, correcting openings made in the shafts, and adding new brass were made to each cab. Additionally, up to 26 layers of paint were removed from the interior panels of the cabs and returned to their original colors and the iron scrollwork vents were regilded with 24 carat gold leaf as the first architect of the building, Douglas Ellington, originally specified.