Crites Elevator

By: Bella Howie

If you have ever taken an improv class or even merely wandered the halls of Savannah College of Art and Design’s Performing Arts building, Crites Hall, odds are you have met the infamous Crites Elevator. Though many harrowing stories of near death experiences with the Crites Elevator echo through those classrooms, for the first time ever, the Crites elevator has agreed to sit down with Performing Arts alumni Bella Howie and set the record straight.

BH: I understand that your name is one that doesn’t garner the most positive reaction. Why do you think you’ve been characterized this way over the years?

CE: You’ve heard a lot about me but you’ve never heard my story. I think people meet me and have a certain impression without really trying to get to know me. I think at face value, sure, it can be a scary experience going up, but is that really who I am, or is your negative first impression amplified by what you have already heard, without knowing anything about me. Maybe you would find we have common ground.

BH: Wow, what a powerful and heartfelt opener to this interview, thank you for your candor. You seem to imply there are perhaps many misconceptions about you, what would you say is the biggest one?

CE: There are honestly so many it's hard to choose. I think the first one that comes to my mind is the infamous butts. I get a lot of people making fun of them to my face and it is something that was completely out of my control. It is one of the things I am scrutinized for most and has become one of my deepest insecurities. You think I wanted to have butts on my face...I didn’t ask for that.

BH: I am a little ashamed to say that was something I never realized was not your decision; You’ve definitely put the ceiling butts into perspective. I also want to talk a little bit about the gold paint debacle which occurred last year in which the doors were painted gold, talk me through how that decision came about.

CE: I wish I could tell you, but I never got much explanation myself. Unfortunately it was another instance in which a decision was made concerning me and I wasn’t consulted at all. It was all incredibly confusing. Why gold? Why now?

BH: Now that does sound very confusing, but also something that I’ve heard happens to you a lot?

CE: Oh, yeah, all the time!

BH: I don’t want to dwell on that too long though. Heh, sort of like the second floor people that don’t want to dwell in you too long. It was as perplexing as people getting into an

overcrowded elevator and only taking it to the second floor.

CE: ...

BH: Anyways... I feel like there is something major we have yet to touch on in depth in this interview and that is the safety concerns. Many people report fearing for their lives, or hearing loud noises up to the fourth floor. How much of this is based in fact, and where do these stories come from?

CE: I can’t deny there is some validity in their concerns, last year was definitely a low point for me.

BH: Because of the Gold paint?

CE: Maybe partially but I think I also realized there are some deep seeded issues that I hadn’t worked through from my past.

BH: Would you mind talking a little bit about that? What was your life before Crites like?

CE: Before SCAD I was actually in a high level position at a sales firm in New York City.

BH: That is definitely surprising to hear. If you don’t mind me asking, what happened?

CE: Well in 2008 the recession hit and I lost my job, and that subsequently put a lot of tension on my marriage. We eventually split up and I moved to Savannah to be closer to family; I actually have a cousin who is a grain elevator here. I then got the job at SCAD.

BH: Wow, I can’t believe more people aren’t aware of this.

CE: I honestly never really talk about it, maybe I am a little ashamed of how much I descended from the top. It was especially hard last year, I found out my ex wife got remarried, and then with the continued ridicule of the butt ceiling and people peeling the gold paint from my doors I think it finally got to me. My wife...sorry ex wife and I actually met on the fourth floor of a building. That's why it was so painful for me to take people there. I know now how much the sounds were scaring people and I don’t blame them for letting their fear out, I just wish someone would have checked up on me.

BH: I’m sorry you were going through all that alone. Has anything changed? During that time I hit rock bottom, I was the lowest I had ever been; I was literally on the ground floor. It felt like the more I cried out for help, the more people took the stairs, and that hurt more than you could imagine.

CE: Yeah things definitely got better towards the end of spring quarter last year, I definitely still have my moments but I started going to counselling around then.

BH: Bee Well?

CE: No, they don’t really do anything.

BH: Heard.

CE: But since starting therapy I’ve been doing much better.

BH: I’m so glad to hear that! Mental health is so important for everyone, even elevators.

CE: For sure.

BH: Thank you so much for sitting down with me today and being so open about your experiences and history. I wish you the best moving forward.

CE: I actually can’t move forward, only up and down.

BH: Well, I wish you the best of luck.

CE: Thankyou, and thankyou for listening to my story.