Hydraulic Elevator Modernization – Highland Park, IL

We visited a building in the height of Covid in 2020 that was part of a group of buildings where we did the other 2 buildings.  They wanted to work with a new company for a years and start thinking about modernization of their old Otis Elevator system.  We got to meet a good group of board members and was awarded maintenance in the beginning of 2021 and modernized in 2025 after working with them on a capital plan.

Existing elevator & project scope – We replaced the elevator controller, fixtures, door equipment, doors and cylinder.

New equipment providers 

Controllers – Alpha Elevator 

Door operators – GAL MOVFR[retained] – replaced Otis car and hatch equipment with GAL.

Fixtures – Innovation Industries

Power unit – MEI w/Maxton valve[retained]

Doors – Peelle

Visual communication – Kings III & KTECH

[Existing Otis Slim line relay controller]

[New Alpha Elevator controller]

Elevator controller – The existing elevator had a Otis slim line relay controller from 1970 which worked great for many years. The building had a capital plan to replace their elevator system so they where prepared!  You can see the difference in technology from 1970 to 2025.  No we have about 4 different things hooked up to our elevator controller for different code requirements. 

[Old Otis Car station]

[New Innovation Industries car station]

[Old 1st floor hall station]

[New Hall station & new hatch doors]

Elevator fixtures – We installed Innovation Industries hall and car fixtures to replace the original Otis buttons.  We had to move the hall stack to the left side of the elevator for 2 reasons, one the building put framing around the frame which shrank our usable area in the door frame for hall stations and the building had a door that swings right into where the new button would be.

 

[Old knife switch disconnect - good to get rid of]

[New mainline and 110vac car lighting elevator disconnects]

[Building had replaced their fire panel recently so we worked with their company for new controller]

Turnkey – The building wanted a turnkey project and we had great partners to complete our fire alarm, air conditioner and electrical components.

Visual communication - VAM – We worked with Kings III and provided cellular service for their phone and visual.  The building ended up with a net savings versus their existing phone line.

Take away – We encourage building owners to take a proactive approach to equipment replacement. When equipment gets 20-30 years old, and a building’s expectations are that the elevators are to run reliably, it is a good idea to start planning when it should be replaced.  We had some challenges with the elevator cylinder hole, we had a well driller come in and clear the hole to the depth we needed and we where back on track.

Team work– The sales person and the project team who finishes, typically get the glory on a project. In between the initial contract sale and the final acceptance are many other people who work on the project to make it successful. From the truck driver to the engineer to the billing department to the assist when needed, 11 Colley Elevator employees where involved in the project and we had tremendous team work on it. Thank you everyone. Without you we would not have had such a successful delivery! Let’s not forget our great material supplier participation!

If you have any questions or would like additional information feel free to contact me at CraigZ@colleyelevator.com or 630-766-7230 ext. 107.

 Also check us out on Instagram @Colleyelevator see what we have been up to.