The BART/Muni elevator at Hallidie Plaza, 5th & Market Streets, is San Francisco's Poop Chute. The half-million dollar disaster was added in 1997 to make Hallidie Plaza accessible by wheel chairs. An elevator may have been a good idea, but the outer steel sculpture was a hideous and cold addition to the open plaza. That would have been bad enough if the lift hadn't been adopted as a public toilet as well. In 2001, when it was out of service for several months, the elevator was deemed uncleanable the Department of Public Works. The elevator's inner working parts were completely replaced. By 2005, it was obvious to most San Franciscans that Hallidie Plaza itself, one of our highest areas for tourist and commuter traffic, should be torn up and rebuilt completely.

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