Chile: Citizens Fight to Save Valparaiso’s Emblematic Elevators · Global Voices
Katie Manning

In 1945, Eduardo Reyes, then 16, hopped aboard the Artillería funicular elevator, overlooking the rocky coast of Valparaíso, Chile. As a fresh  navy recruit, it was the first day of a life full of rumbling rides up  the metal rails that belong to an exclusive community of UNESCO World  Heritage Sites.
“I never considered the elevators as a tourist  attraction. In those days, I was just worried about getting back to the  barracks late,” said Reyes.
For Reyes and his neighbors, the elevators provide an essential  service, cheaply lifting and lowering residence during their morning and  evening commute, but now Valparaíso’s elevators are teetering on the  brink of extinction. The World Monuments Fund named  them one of the world’s 100 most endangered historical treasures.
About  130 years ago, there were 30 elevators. Now, only five are still  cranking, which is why residents are fighting to ensure that the local  government makes good on their promise to purchase and repair the  elevators.
Photo by Katie Manning
The wooden boxes, passing each other on parallel tracks, wear many  hats. Up to about a dozen passengers peer through the carts’ wraparound  glass goggles. Tourists snap up memories of Valparaíso's seemingly  perpendicular slopes, layered with crayon-box colored houses.
Over the  years, the elevators allowed workers to migrate upward and outward and  grow the city beyond the shore.
Reyes, now 82, stayed put after his service, working as a professor  at the University of Chile in Valparaíso and a scientific journalist. He clips newspaper articles about repair plans and recognitions that the  elevators won over the years.
He said, “They are in our heart and in  our spirit. Having them is necessary. It contributed to the the history  of our city and how it developed.”
Many Porteños, or Valparaíso residents, live in the less-pricey  hilltop perches and work down on the shore. They shell out only 100 to  300 Chilean pesos a ride (25 to 50 U.S. cents). But the elevator's cheap  price doesn't turn enough coins for their upkeep.
Consequently, 10 remain out of service leaving Porteños searching  for alternate transportation.  Reyes explained that many can't afford to  take a taxi. The roads often cut off suddenly, which means a  sweaty-uphill climb between bus routes. This makes for a long commute  and poses an obstacle for the elderly.
Reyes said, “Valparaíso is poor.  It's not like the beach resort towns next door. And it's not just the  practicality, the elevators are also a point of pride for our  community.”
UNESCO sites the antique elevators in the first paragraph of it's explanation  of why Valparaíso made the list of World Heritage cities. It reads:
The  colonial city of Valparaíso presents an excellent example of late  19th-century urban and architectural development in Latin America… The  city has well preserved its interesting early industrial  infrastructures, such as the numerous ‘elevators’ on the steep  hillsides.
The “Elevator Users” (Los Usarios de Los Ancensores) disagreed  that the elevators are “well preserved.” Hermann  Cabezòn, 41, leads the  group because their rusty state burdens residents and falsely advertises  one of the cities premier attractions, he said.
“They're an important emblem of what it means to be from  Valaparaiso. We deserve the elevators, and they deserve to be  maintained,” according to Cabezòn.
The group said their  social media and picketing campaign encouraged  the Supreme Court's 2009 mandate that the government purchase the rest of the elevators from  private owners. In January this year, Chile’s President Sebastián  Piñera officially announced the government's purchase, recovery and  repair 10 elevators: Florida, Cordillera, Larrain, Mariposa, Monja,  Villaseca, Santo Domingo, Artillería, Concepción and Espíritu Santo.  According to the city's regional governor (el Intendente) Raúl Celis,  they've set aside 2.4 billion Chilean pesos, or U.S. $4.8 million to  buy them. This month marked the tentative deadline for the purchase.
“We hope that in the shortest possible time – we believe that by the  end of this month or early December – we'll be able to make the legal  transfer of the elevators and sign the deed,” according to Celis.
Photo by Katie Manning
Reyes said he's not convinced the deal will go through considering  how much time has passed since the court's decision. He laid down a  photocopy of a local newspaper from 2006 onto a coffee-house table in  central Valparaíso. The paper mentioned a proposal to buy the elevators  four years ago.
Reyes now writes for online citizen-journalism site, El Martutino [es],  to spur the municipality to keep their promise. He faulted authorities  for lagging past the deadline of the Barron elevator's repairs. He wrote,
¿Dónde y cómo se fija un valor patrimonial?
Reyes and other citizen journalists at El Martutino [es] are bringing attention to the struggle to save Valparaiso's elevators.
The Elevator Users, under @ValpoAncensores, tweeted [es] a photo to their nearly 500 followers showing evidence of the  municipality's as yet unfulfilled pledge to patch up Barron.
REALIDAD DE ASCENSOR BARON,VALPARAISO,CHILE ﻿﻿pic.twitter.com/onDKI3KW
Alongside  the Twitter account, they organized a Facebook page [es] with 3,540 followers.
While the Elevator Users focus on the practical use for residents,  Reyes also mentioned that the elevators attract crucial tourism dollars.
One  rider from Toulouse, France, 69-year-old Michel Aymeric bobbled down  the Concepción elevator while on day fifteen of a 20-percent wine  business and 80-percent pleasure trip. He skirted out of the capital to  drink in Valparaíso’s coastal view and “find a nice girl.” He said, “In  Valparaíso, you have both the soul and something that’s joyful.”
His desire for a convenient route to a “touristy” café convinced him  to step onto the oldest of the elevators. He mimicked the rumbling of  the elevator with roughed-up noises from back of his throat. It was  “fantastic and original. We French people like old things, so we like  that. It's a pity that they haven't fixed the rest.”
Tourists stare at the view and Citizens worry about their commute,  but the elevators’ 130-year-old story seems to enchant all. The Elevator  Users Facebook group debates [es] whether changing out the cars – rather then repairing the battered  originals – would injure their monumental status.  Reyes’  expressions  grew more colorful as he rattled off century-old facts from their  transport role in Valparaíso's seaport history that, he said, makes them  unique and demands preservation.
Cabezòn said,
For now, this  historical image of our city is a lie. It is a false emblem until the  government fixes our main means of transportation, which everyone comes  to see, but not enough can ride.