Empire State Building to undergo major renovations

Stephen Singer USA Today 06/15/2011 18:58

Everything is big with New York's landmark Empire State Building, so upgrading the 20th century elevators running up and down its 102 floors without disrupting thousands of office workers, visitors and tourists each day is no small task.

The office and retail tower and Otis Elevator Co., the nation's best-known elevator manufacturer, were set to announce Thursday a partnership to replace and modernize the building's elevators to bring them into the computer age and reduce passenger wait time.

For the Empire State Building — among the world's most photographed buildings, reproduced into countless paperweights and star of a 1933 movie with King Kong hanging from its side — the renovation caps its 80th year.

And for Otis, which sold its first elevators in 1853 but now gets much of its business in China's booming office construction market, working at the marquee office tower in midtown New York is as high profile as it gets.

"When you're young from another country you think of the Empire State Building," said Didier Michaud-Daniel, Otis' president who hails from France. "The Empire State Building is known worldwide, so in terms of image it's a great opportunity for us to talk about what we're going to do there."

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