The ELEVATOR at Poole Library is still out of service three weeks after the library officially reopened.
The library opened six months later than planned on Monday, October 24 after a year of closure for renovations.
The site opened without a working lift, leaving wheelchair users and people with reduced mobility unable to access it.
A Dolphin Center spokesperson said they hoped the elevator would be up and running within two weeks, but as of November 23, the elevator was still closed.
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A BCP Council spokesperson said: ‘Dolphin Center management has confirmed that although work to commission the lift has begun, it will take some time and the lift may not be available until the end of this week.
“Our face-to-face customer service offering will remain at Beech House until the lift is operational again. In the meantime, visitors who wish to access the library and require a lift are being cared for charge by the staff accompanying them via the centre’s service elevator.”
A Dolphin Center spokesperson said on November 23: “I can confirm that the lift has now been refurbished, but we are awaiting news from the contractors on Friday with a confirmed in-service date.
“This is a legal requirement and means that the lift can only be used by the public after it has been put into service.
“The Dolphin Center management team have been pushing for this to be done sooner, but we have to rely on the contractor’s availability and schedule, which means it’s out of our control.
“I will be able to confirm the commission date once it has been confirmed by the contractors.”
A user who visited the library on the day it opened posted on social media that she found the situation “ridiculous”.
“Went to Poole Library today as it has finally reopened after a year, and the lift to it has now been out of service for at least three weeks, and I have been advised that there is no has no other access through security.
‘As a full time wheelchair user I find it ridiculous that it’s been closed all this time and now that it’s reopened the lift is being done.’
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