On Oct. 3, Ella Bachrach, U1 Arts, walked into the elevator of Sherbrooke 680/688 on the ground floor, intending to travel up to the 13th floor. However, after Bachrach entered the elevator, the doors did not fully close behind her, leaving an inch-wide gap. While ascending, the elevator suddenly stopped moving and all the lights turned off. Bachrach remembers trying to find an emergency call button within the elevator but was unable to do so in the darkness. Fearing the elevator would fall 13 stories, she forced the doors open and managed to squeeze out.
“I was so scared that the elevator had lost power and would suddenly drop [.…] The adrenaline helped me,” Bachrach wrote to The Tribune.
Sherbrooke 680/688 is home to a variety of programs, including the McGill Community for Lifelong Learning (MCLL) and its Language and Intercultural Communication unit, which are part of the School of Continuing Studies. The building also hosts a popular study area on its ninth floor. Because of this, the 21-storey building sees a high number of students entering, exiting, and travelling between floors daily.
After she was trapped in the elevator, Bachrach reported the incident to the building staff. She alleged that staff replied by saying such elevator-related incidents were extremely common.
Bachrach is not the only student to report technical difficulties with elevators. Sarah Alfaro, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) undergraduate, also reported being trapped in a 680/688 Sherbrooke elevator.
In Fall 2024, Alfaro took the elevator to the 19th or 20th floor of the building to go to class. Alfaro claimed that when the elevator reached her floor, the doors would not open to let her out. She repeatedly pressed the button to open the elevator door for minutes before they finally opened.
Alfaro recalls being unsure what to do in such a situation, especially since she did not know any classmates to contact to alert them of the problem. She also remembers wanting to call for help, but was unsure of who to contact.
“[The elevators] could be better, especially because it would really suck to be late in class because the elevator [got] stuck,” Alfaro said.
Bachrach told The Tribune that the building staff told her there is an electrical issue in the building that frequently causes these elevator problems.
In a written statement to The Tribune, the McGill Media Relations Office (MRO) denied these claims. The MRO explained that it is aware of a minimal number of elevator stoppages in the past year, citing nine, and that all were resolved within a minute before a response team could reach the elevators in question.
“The number of stoppages in the recent years does not point [to] any type of regular malfunctioning […] though we regret the inconvenience that even a single breakdown causes, elevators can malfunction for various reasons,” the MRO wrote.
The MRO noted that elevator stoppages are unrelated to any power or electrical issues in the building, and claimed that elevators are inspected on a regular basis to ensure the safety of staff and students.
“Elevator breakdowns are a regrettable inconvenience, but they should not be confused with safety issues,” the MRO wrote. “Furthermore, we have a rapid response protocol in place, including if someone is inside and anxious.”
Despite this, Bachrach expressed anxiety about taking the elevators in Sherbrooke 680/688 following her experience.
“I always take the stairs in [Sherbrooke 680/688] now because I’m scared that it’ll happen again and I don’t know what I would do if the door wasn’t open a crack,” Bachrach wrote. “[I’m] not sure why it hasn’t been fixed yet but it definitely should be because getting stuck in the elevator is a big deterrent to students attending class.”
