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The El Cortez Hotel was the tallest building in San Diego, United States, when it was completed in 1927. Later, the CEO faced a dilemma when he decided to expand the hotel by adding more floors. If expansion construction were undertaken, a new elevator would need to be installed to reach the newly constructed floors. This would require tearing down rooms to create passageways for the elevator on each floor. Reducing the number of rooms would result in financial losses, business would not be possible during the installation work, and employees would also have to take time off from work.
At that time, thanks to someone’s brilliant idea, the hotel was able to continue operating without demolishing any rooms while installing the new elevator. Not only that, it attracted significant attention and was even featured on the news. What happened?
They installed the elevator outside the building, not inside. This innovative solution resulted in the world’s first outdoor elevator, allowing guests to enjoy beautiful ocean views while traveling up and down the building.