TheDenverChannel.com









Denver News
E-Mail News Alerts
Get breaking news and daily headlines.
Browse all e-mail newsletters

Long Coors Field Escalators Only Going Up This Season

City Inspectors Out To Recertify Escalators

POSTED: 11:06 am MST March 24, 2004
UPDATED: 2:57 pm MST March 24, 2004

If you have tickets for the upper reaches of Coors Field this summer, there's good news and bad news. Those long escalators will be working this baseball season and will take you to the top of the ballpark but they're not going to bring you down.

closeup of escalator

On Wednesday, the Colorado Rockies announced that the largest escalators at Coors Field, the ones near Gates C and E, will only be used to carry fans up to their seats, following an investigation prompted by last summer's escalator accident.

"We just feel, as we're evaluating this situation, that we want to err on the side of safety. There's plenty of exiting capacity for our guests on the upper deck through our ramp and our stairwells. And we have elevators available for those who feel that walking down the steps is not an option," said Kevin Kahn, vice president of ballpark operations.

All other escalators at the ballpark will be used in both directions as they have in the past.

The Rockies said the same escalator procedures are in place at ballparks in New York, Chicago, Cleveland and Kansas City.

"Based on the significant investigation that went on after July and the certification process, we have complete confidence in the city's process and we feel that all the escalators are safe," said Kahn. "We just feel in our minds that we need to take an extra precaution and just run them in the up mode as other facilities have done."

City engineers were out Wednesday inspecting the escalators to recertify them for the second time this year, as required by city code.

There's still some debate about exactly what caused the three-story escalator near Gate C to malfunction after a sold-out Colorado Rockies game and fireworks show on July 2. City inspectors said a major safety switch was missing, causing the escalator to suddenly speed up and hurtle dozens of people to the bottom of the escalator.

Kone Inc., the company that makes and maintains the escalators at Coors Field, blamed overcrowding and a misconnected wire for the accident.

According to the city's investigation, a device called the Nordic Soft Start, which is designed to slowly bring an escalator up to speed, malfunctioned, disrupting the braking ability of the motors and allowing them to free wheel. Inspectors said the safety switch could have caught the malfunction and shut the escalator down.

More than 30 people were injured, some seriously, in the accident.

The Rockies and Kone had agreed to split the cost of medical bills, lost wages, child-care fees and other costs without admitting any responsibility.

Since the accident, the Colorado Rockies and Kone have spent thousands of dollars to help injured fans.

The Rockies' first home game is April 12.


Links We Like
Sponsored Content
You can pick your friends, but not your family -- or your neighbors. Here's what you need to know about how to deal with yours. More

Find out what a sputtering economy and an increasingly difficult to crack job market means to you. More

Are you often tired or rushed in the morning? Give your morning habits a makeover, and start the day feeling positive and energetic instead. More

If you're looking to save on your next new vehicle, a low sticker price is just one aspect. Consider all the costs and make the right decision. More

MyReport Network

E - News Registration focus group
  My Report Network: Tell your story on 7NEWS. Sign up to be a member of our My Report Network
Sponsored Links

MyReport Network

E - News Registration focus group
  My Report Network: Tell your story on 7NEWS. Sign up to be a member of our My Report Network