SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) - The escalator at HOM Furniture - believed to be the last one accessible by the public in downtown Sioux City - has been taken down.
The decision was made last year to remove the 35-year-old escalator and replace it with a staircase, the Sioux City Journal reported.
“The escalator was original when the downtown Younkers came to the Town Square in 1986,” HOM manager Kyle Chance said. When HOM took over the building in 2008, it kept the escalator running, he said.
Chance said the decision to remove HOM’s escalator was mainly a financial one, noting it would have cost more than $1 million to replace the ailing escalator and maintain and power it.
The change may be a sign of the times; the escalator was thought to be the last one in operation in a retail store in Sioux City and the last one downtown that was accessible to the general public.
In recent years, two-level escalators at the Ho-Chunk Centre atrium and MercyOne’s Central Medical Building were replaced with staircases. Even earlier, the city removed the escalator that was located in the skywalk space next to the Sioux City Hotel & Conference Center.
MidAmerican Energy continues to run an escalator in its multi-story office building, but it’s primarily used by the utility company’s staff.
The days of a motor-driven moving staircase may be quietly coming to an end, Chance said.
“What was once thought to be more modern now looks old fashioned,” he said.
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