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The elevator will be an addition to the back of WoodsedgeSenior facilities have their ups and downs.  At Woodsedge when a tenant has a down, they want emergency responders to be able to get up and down quickly and easily.  Just this week a second floor tenant fell and broke some bones.  Emergency responders had to carry the patient down the stairs because the Elevette in the building wasn't nearly big enough to fit a stretcher.  This year the Town of Lansing Housing Authority (TLHA) hopes to install a full sized elevator.  To do that they are raising funds to both pay project expenses and reduce the rent hike the project will necessitate.

"Now if someone gets sick on the second floor the emergency responder have to take them down in a chair or physically carry them down the stairs," says TLHA Chairman George Gesslein.  "I'm hoping to begin construction in September  or October.  I am hoping it will be completed by the end of the year."

The $240,000 project will include adding an enclosure for a standard hydraulic elevator to the back of the 40 unit building, directly across from the front entrance.  The structure will be walled off from the facility to keep from disrupting tenants during the construction period, then elevator doors will be cut.  Gesslein says that the elevator will easily handle a stretcher or gurney along with emergency responders.

The benefit will also extend to non-emergencies such as moving furniture in and out of second floor apartments.  In the past year NYSERTA replaced most of the refrigerators at Woodsedge with energy efficient models.  They had to be carried up the stairs because they wouldn't fit in the Elevette.  The Elevette is only 34 inches by 44 inches with a load capacity of 450 pounds, big enough to fit two people intimately, perhaps with a bag or two of groceries.  The new elevator will be 6 feet by 8 feet, large enough for a stretcher and most furniture items.

The idea for the project arose during an annual inspection by the US Department of Agriculture's Rural Development, that holds the mortgage on the property.  Gesslein says that when Woodsedge was built the federal agency would not provide subsidized funding if an elevator was included in the building.  The elevator was dropped from the original plan so the project could get its money.  But over thirty years federal rules have changed, and federal inspectors actually suggested the idea.

TLHA officials were thrilled.  Plans were drawn up, and they lined up financing from Tompkins Trust Company that was made possible when Rural Development agreed to let Tompkins Trust hold the first lien on the building should the facility default on the loan.  But even with that loan TLHA must raise at least $13,581 to pay for closing costs and other fees.  Their goal is to raise a minimum of $15,000.

Initially TLHA officials plan a mailer asking for donations.  Later this year more funds will be raised at a Woodsedge 30th anniversary celebration.  Gesslein says he hopes much of the construction will be done by then so people can see what they are contributing to, as well as see a list of contributors from the mailing that he says will encourage others to give.


Currently rent is $528 for 1 bedroom and $731 for 2 bedroom apartments.  Average utility costs are $61 for a 1 bedroom and $80 for a 2 bedroom.  Most tenants pay substantially less with the difference paid by USDA Rural Development using federal subsidy funds. 

This year it is looking like other factors will not mean a significant rise in rents, but Gesslein estimates the elevator will add about $60 to the rent, all of which will be picked up by Rural Development for subsidized tenants.  But if TLHA can raise more than their $15,000 goal it will reduce the mortgage total, which will keep rents lower for everybody.

A $15,000 giving campaign is ambitious based on past TLHA fundraising efforts.  Past campaigns have funded amenities like the Baker Memorial Garden.  That campaign raised nearly $10,000 over four years.  Gesslein hopes that people will give more this time because the funding will go to a necessity, rather than an amenity.

"It's a little higher, but the purpose is more tenant oriented and helpful to seniors," he says.  "The elevator is a major addition that has to be done.  I think we're going to be able to raise a few extra dollars because of that.  There are a lot of people who are willing to commit funds for a worthwhile purpose, and this is certainly one of them."

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