The elevator at 40 North Main is receiving a much-needed renovation this summer and early one morning recently, our facilities manager snapped this shot of the old motor being removed from the roof by crane. Original to the building, the rumbling and the groaning of the mechanisms has been enough to strike fear into the hearts of passengers, let alone its history of periodically trapping people behind its doors. Although employees and visitors to the Pastoral Center will be able to breathe a sigh of relief upon completion of the renovation, its history of being the birthplace of many an Albany baby will never be replaced.

On a recent diocesan Facebook post about the Brady Maternity Hospital once housed at the Pastoral Center, more than a few stories of babies arriving in the elevator on the way to the delivery floor were shared. A few of those elevator babies now occasionally stop by 40 North Main for meetings, but with this new renovation, visitors will be promptly delivered to their destinations.

(Photo by Mike Kane)