據當地媒體報道，美國檀香山一座高40層的公寓在過去五年內由于一個不完善的電梯系統，維護費用增加三倍，達到了每月1800美元。這筆費用的增加主要是來自于電梯系統的更換需要。據該建筑的一名公寓委員會成員介紹，該建筑在1980年代開始建立，當時的外部電梯系統直接把室內電梯系統安裝在建筑外墻，對電梯零件缺乏恰當的保護措施，因此導致了電梯服務時常中斷和高昂的修理費用，僅在過去兩年就達到了將近100萬美元。在前幾年，僅僅是為了把兩臺電梯圍好的工程就花費了800萬美元，然而因為建筑的地基無法承受多余的重量，這個計劃并不可行?，F在，電梯設備每逢刮風下雨的天氣就要關閉，還經常發(fā)生困人事故。同時，公寓方依舊無法擺脫這些維護費用高昂而賣不出去的電梯設備。過去五年，每月的維修費用達到600美元。

ELEVATOR WOES DRIVE UP HonOLULU ConDO TOWER FEES

Over the past five years, a faulty elevator system has taken most of the blame for a tripling of maintenance fees to $US1,800 a month at the 40-story Waikiki Marina tower in Honolulu, the Honolulu Civil Beat reports. The fee increases stem from the need to replace the elevator system. When the tower was built in the early 1980s, the exterior elevator system used was an indoor system mounted on the outside without appropriate protection from the elements, a condominium board member said, leading to service outages and costly repairs — nearly US$1 million over the past two years alone. An effort several years ago only to enclose the two elevators had a price tag of US$8 million, but that plan proved unfeasible because the building’s foundation couldn't support the added weight. The elevators are prone to shutting down during windy and/or rainy weather, often trapping people inside. Meanwhile, owners are stuck with units they can't sell because of the high fees, which, only five years ago, stood at $US600 per month.