Bally’s Atlantic City eventually absorbed the Claridge Hotel & Casino next door, but the hotel remains somewhat independent structurally, and even has its own parking garage (which, IMO, is more convenient than the Bally’s parking garage). This is the elevator that serves 13 floors (including the rooftop) of the parking garage.
It turns out that this elevator at Bally’s Atlantic City is not intended for regular passenger use. A placard on the 2nd floor reads, “For use of elevator call #3164”. However, on the 3rd floor, near the Palace Theater box office in the old Claridge hotel, there was no sign. So we hopped on this elevator thinking nothing out of the ordinary. I then mistakenly pushed the 1st floor button and wound up in an abandoned bus station, apparently sealed off from the rest of the world. Certainly something for further investigation!
I was also concerned by the extremely slow speed of this elevator, which made it seem like it was entrapping passengers. It took nearly 40 seconds to go 2 floors. Also when it was traveling in the up direction, when it arrived at the second floor, there was a very noticeable jolt as a cavitation bubble in the hydraulic system caused a pressure drop. Cavitation in a hydraulic elevator is often indicative of low fluid levels in the reserve tank – the pump draws in air instead of fluid – which also means that this elevator is very poorly maintained and would certainly not pass a thorough inspection! Given that it is inside a casino, there are almost certainly political reasons that such an elevator would remain in service in such an unmaintained state. “Maybe it’s in bad shape, maybe it’s not.” Ya know.
