Landmark Calgary Tower still closed seven weeks after elevator scare
Posted Aug 30, 2019 9:00 am.
CALGARY — One of Calgary’s most recognizable landmarks remains closed seven weeks after an elevator with eight people on board plunged several floors.
Aspen Properties, owner of the Calgary Tower, says it doesn’t have an update on repairs to the elevator at the popular tourist destination.
The agency that governs elevators in Alberta says the elevator is stuck in the same position it was in when it broke in July.
The Alberta Elevating Devices and Amusement Ride Safety Association says the car is held up in an area of the elevator shaft that is not easily accessible.
Aspen Properties’ website says 300,000 people visit the 190-metre tower each year, paying for tickets, visiting the two restaurants and testing their courage on the glass floor.
It took firefighters four hours to rescue the eight people trapped inside the elevator when a cable broke July 12 and the car stopped about 12 storeys up.
Rescuers using a harness pulled passengers out of the disabled lift and lowered them to the ground.
Patrons in the restaurant at the top of the tower walked down the stairs or were carried by firefighters.
No one was injured.
The Calgary Tower was built to celebrate Canada’s centennial anniversary in 1967. It was completed in 1968. (CTV Calgary)
The Canadian Press
