11 Investigates Exclusive: Money for broken city elevators used to buy furniture

PITTSBURGH — 11 Investigates is getting answers after our story about poor conditions inside city hall.

11 Investigates told you last week that some of the elevators in the building have been broken for months.

A bank of three elevators at the City-County building in Downtown Pittsburgh hasn’t worked for months, as we reported in our exclusive investigation into city buildings in shambles last week, and now 11 Investigates has now learned that the $1.3 million set aside to replace them was used to buy furniture for the new 412 building that houses city departments, including Mobility and Infrastructure and Permits, Licenses and Inspections.

>> 11 Investigates: City of Pittsburgh-owned buildings in shambles

Chief Investigator Rick Earle broke this story last week and today he questioned city councilmember Theresa Kail Smith about the elevators.

Earle: Did you know they had taken the money to buy furniture at the 412?

Kail Smith: I knew there was a concern that they were talking about doing it but I didn’t realize they had done it until some email exchanges had gone back and forth and I asked,” said Kail Smith.

Kail Smith had allocated the $1.3 million for new elevators.

But the mayor’s office told 11 Investigates that it wasn’t enough money to cover the total costs, so they used the money instead to purchase the furniture.

“I’m disappointed because it’s a safety priority and I think something has to be done, whatever it is, maintaining our building has to be a priority,” said Kail Smith.

The mayor’s office has now allocated $2.5 million in next year’s budget and they said that will pay for the three new elevators.

While a handful of the building’s other elevators still work, Kail Smith said it’s time to get the others back on line, and she hopes there’s not another last minute reallocation of funding that would delay the fix again.

“These are public buildings, and we are here to use them for just a short time, and we have to make sure people coming in and out are safe as well,” said Kail Smith.

The mayor’s office said the elevators haven’t been repaired because replacement parts have been hard to find, but Earle’s sources inside city hall say those repairs would only be temporary, and that replacing the elevators is the only real option.

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