Campus community members are going to get a lift. That is, a lift up from the student housing area to just outside King Hall. Construction of a new elevator tower is taking place to connect the sub-level of campus to outside the back of King Hall’s basement level.

The tower will be composed of two elevators and is part of the construction of the Student Housing East project, according to Barbara Queen, associate vice president of facilities, planning and construction at Cal State LA. As the construction site takes up some of the road on Circle Drive, a new makeshift road was paved as a small detour around the project.

“The cost of the elevators is part of [a] larger CSU-wide revenue bond. The bond must be paid back from revenues from student housing,” Queen said in an email. The Student Housing East project is scheduled for completion Fall 2021, she stated in a follow-up email.

Jocelyn Gutierrez, who has a mobility disability, said such elevators can be a significant help for disabled students. “It makes me happy that future students that have disabilities are going to have that,” she said.

Despite being a resident of student dorms, “I obviously can’t take the stairs, so I have to” go around either through Lot 5 and then take the elevator or go “further around campus,” she said. Gutierrez explained getting to class can take longer for her compared to an able-bodied person. If there’s a class in Salazar Hall, “it takes me like a good 20 minutes” to get there, she said.

The elevators can ease the inconvenience students like her have to face. “One thing can make a huge difference,” said Gutierrez.

Queen said the elevators will comply with ADA mandates and will face inspection.

UPDATED: Feb. 3 @ 4:25 p.m.