Post #6, The Famous Cage Elevator

You may be asking yourself “why have a blog post about an elevator?”. Well, this isn’t just any old elevator that you can ride. This is what is to be considered a cage elevator, in that it rides up and down an open shaft. Usually when you get on an elevator the shaft isn’t visible and is behind a casing of some sort. Now, there are plenty of these boring original elevators, four of them to be exact, located in the Southeast, Southwest, Northwest, and Northeast corners of the building that can take you from the Ground level to the 5^th floor but you won’t want to ride on those, you already do that every day anyways. The cage elevator was built in 1923 and has remained in its original position ever since (located on the east side of the building). Although, in 1976, the Kansas state legislators were contemplating on removing the famous cage elevator and its shaft to supply more room for restoration and floor planning. Senate members quickly made a decision that was agreed upon by all; to keep the elevator. This decision had been concluded with the final explanation that the elevator’s historical significance to the building was too important to demolish it and the senate members ordered it to remain under extreme care and maintenance for passenger use. Since then, the elevator has been showcased in a couple of movies and has been the single most visited item within the statehouse. The cage elevator operates from the 1^st floor (above ground level) to the 5^th floor or what is simply known by as the rotunda floors, as the rotunda is visible from floors 1 to 5. If you visit today, you will notice that the elevator is always operated by a member of staff as well as the fact that it has been kept in its original condition.

Please note that some information was respectfully interpreted by members of staff and used in the completion of this blog post. In addition, I often use the Kansas State Historical Society to gain a basic view and concept of my topics in the creation of each individualized post. For further information regarding the cage elevator as well as other public elevators that are available to visitors please refer to the following links. 

Thank You,

Famous Cage Elevator (installed in 1923) 

Public Elevators In The State Capitol

Please be sure to join me again shortly as the next blog post I will be covering information about some of the beautiful canvas paintings and wall paintings that you will encounter as you make your way through the Kansas Statehouse.