The main entrance of Norris University Center is undergoing a facelift to make its main entrance more accessible to people with disabilities.

About one-third of the stairway connecting the entrance level and the main level is being torn out and replaced with a platform elevator, said Joe Mroczkowski, associate director for Norris planning and program development.

The new platform elevator will replace a wall-mounted elevator that was the only way for people in wheelchairs to get to the main level from Norris’ main entrance. Mroczkowski said NU was replacing the wall-mounted lift because it was unreliable.

“People got stuck in it,” he said. “The university is replacing it with a more reliable platform lift.”

Mroczkowski said about half of Norris’ customers come in through the main entrance, and administrators wanted to make sure everybody could access the building through the entrance.

“We just want to make it easy and dignified for people to enter the building,” Mroczkowski said.

Construction is scheduled to continue during normal business hours until June 15, Mroczkowski said, but the loudest part of the construction – cutting out the stairwell – is planned for early in the day so it won’t disrupt meetings in Norris conference rooms.

The platform lift will act like a mini-elevator, with a full door on the entrance level and a half door on the main level to prevent people from falling down the shaft, Mroczkowski said.

A platform lift similar to the plans for Norris already is in use at the entrance of University Library.