Elevator Firm Complained Lyons Township High Pushed Request Aside

LA GRANGE, IL – Apparent friction existed between Lyons Township High School and an elevator firm that ended up charging the school $24,000 for an elevator operator's four days of work.

School board members had qualms with the bill, but ended up paying for it last week.

Through a public records request, Patch obtained correspondence between the high school and Worth-based All-Types Elevators.

On Aug. 11, the new elevator installed by All-Types failed an inspection. It was a fire alarm issue, though the school's architect wasn't sure which of three fire alarm subcontractors was to blame.

By the first day of class on Aug. 18, the school needed to get furniture to upper floors. The law required an elevator operator to be in the building while crews used the yet-to-be-approved elevator. (It passed the inspection on the first day.)

On Aug. 6, a representative of All-Types emailed the school's top finance official, Brian Stachacz, about a change order, apparently the one for the elevator operator. It was unclear why such a discussion took place before the failed inspection.

All-Types' project manager, Corey Bergamo, referred to a change order involving the operator's hours. He indicated he had had little success with the school's architect, Jon Murawski of DLA Architects.

"We have made numerous attempts over an extended period to have this matter reviewed and resolved, yet it continues to be delayed without any meaningful progress or clarity at this point," Bergamo said.

He said the school has a procedure for handling change orders, but "we feel as though this request has continually been pushed aside."

"It has required a significant amount of effort on our part simply to receive updates or responses regarding the statuses of any of our change orders throughout the project," Bergamo said. "We have remained patient and professional throughout this process, but we believe it is now appropriate to ask for your direct assistance."

Stachacz replied that he did not have an approved change order from the architect.

The school provided no correspondence on how the issue was resolved. Many of the conversations may have been on the phone.

On Aug. 28, Brad Drake, the school's director of building and grounds, said in an email to the school's architect that All-Types' service contract for the annual inspection was expiring in three days.

"I'd like to point out that I have called their office continuously since May about the annual inspection for the elevator," Drake said.

Drake said that every time he contacted All-Types, he was told that the firm was waiting on dates from another company for the inspection. At that point, the school was nearly 30 days overdue with the inspection, Drake said.

In an email a few days later, Drake said, "My gut tells me that they never made any arrangements for the inspection."

Patch left a message for comment Thursday with Stachacz, the school's finance official, and Mary Lin Muscolino, the official who handles media inquiries. Neither responded.

Bergamo did not respond to a request for comment Friday.