Sea Lion Caves will close for two months to replace 55-year-old elevator

If you've ever been to Sea Lion Caves, you're familiar with the elevator.

Descending through 208 feet of rock, travelling at 250 feet per minute, the old elevator has carried masses of visitors - 23 at a time - down to the famed sea cave on the central Oregon coast.

Now, after 55 years, the iconic elevator will be history, replaced by a newer, more efficient model that will close down the Sea Lion Caves from Oct. 3 to Nov. 20 for installation, barring unforeseen complications.

The original project - which replaced a wooden stairway on the outside of the cave - took three years to complete, as crews blasted and excavated the tunnel during seasons when the sea lions were away. Finally, in 1961, the elevator opened to the public.

The replacement, an Otis Gen2 elevator, will use coated steel belts instead of steel cables, and should be much more energy efficient, though it will still take the same amount of time to get down the cave. It will still feature the lighted buttons that show how far the elevator has descended, but it will now play an audio message as it goes, telling visitors about the history of the cave.

"It's just due for an upgrade," general manager Boomer Wright said of the elevator. "It's time to have something that's much more dependable."

The elevator has performed reliably over the last half-century, he said, but it's come to the point where replacement parts are nearly impossible to come by. A few years ago, new circuit boards had to be made from scratch.

The new elevator will alleviate some of those headaches, and should last at least another 30 years.

While management in the 1960s raised admission drastically after the elevator installation, prices should stay the same this time around. Admission to the lower walkways over the Pacific Ocean will be free while the cave is closed.

The seven-week project will once again be done as the sea lions have left for the season. They should return by December, when they'll gather inside the cave until the weather gets warm enough to sun on nearby rocks.

Crews aim to have the new elevator in operation by the Sunday before Thanksgiving, though they'll have to contend with fall weather on the Oregon coast, which tends to be wet and windy. That risk will be worth it, as the new technology will bring the Sea Lion Caves into the 21st century.

"We want to make sure that we have something here that we don't have to worry about," Wright said. "It's time."

--Jamie Hale | | @HaleJamesB