Jason Begin steps into the elevator, closes the glass doors and metal gate and reaches for the lever that will move him and a rider up to the third floor.

Jason Begin, 36, is shown in the stairwell Wednesday at the historic Cyr Block Professional Building at 179 Main St. in Waterville. In addition to doing maintenance work, Begin also operates the building’s elevator. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

Begin, 36, is one of only a handful people in the country who manually operate elevators, and this one is in the beautiful Cyr Block Professional Building at 179 Main St. in downtown Waterville.

Begin, a tall man with a shock of dark hair, is quiet, but serious about his work.

“I’ve been doing this about 10 years,” he said. “A lot of people say, ‘Is this what you do all day?’ It’s an easy job, for sure. But I have my cleaning duties in the morning. I vacuum and clean the bathrooms. There are two bathrooms on each floor — four floors with 14 offices on each floor.”

The building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places and owned by the Sidney H. Geller Trust, is a source of pride for Begin and others who work in the building — including lawyers, engineers, social workers, real estate professionals, mental health care workers and union representatives.

And they cite Begin as one of the building’s biggest assets. He greets people at the door, escorts them to the elevator and offices they need to visit, handles the mail, takes out the trash and helps with other needs.

“He’s the key to the building’s being fully occupied as it is,” said Bruce Fowler, the property manager. “Door service is why this building stays close to 100 percent occupied. Ask the tenants in the building what would happen if we were to automate the elevator. If we tried to eliminate Jason’s position, there would be a revolt in the building.”

Jason Begin, 36, vacuums the entryway Wednesday to the 1922 Cyr Block Professional Building at 179 Main St. in Waterville. Begin is also building’s elevator operator. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

Gary Craig operated the elevator for more than 35 years until Begin took over. Roland Cyr operated it from 1922 until Craig started, according to Fowler. One other person substitutes for Begin when he is off.

If Begin is not near the elevator when someone wants to ride, they ring a bell and he rushes over. On Tuesday afternoon, Janet Zalanskas, a psychiatric nurse practitioner, asked to be taken from the lobby to her third floor office. She said what Begin does is “super rare.”

“Clients ask about him when he’s not here,” Zalanskas said. “My patients really appreciate having an elevator person. Some can’t do stairs and it’s nice for them to have access to see me. It’s a huge building, and what a cool building it is. The patients love it. I love it. Jason does a great job with the elevator.”

It is not an exaggeration to say the building is exquisite, with its oak trim, doors and railings.

On the fourth floor, Ernie Johnson, business agent for Millwrights Local 1121, welcomes Begin into his office, which has an original 8-foot-wide wooden and glass skylight in the ceiling just outside the door.

“There’s a lot of history in this building — they don’t make them like this anymore,” Johnson said. “Where else do you see a 20-foot-square atrium in the middle of the floor looking down to the other floors?”

Johnson commended Begin, a Lawrence High School graduate, for his work.

“Jason’s been here since I came up to this office six or seven years ago,” he said. “He takes good care of the building. He knows everybody in here and he helps the people who come in. He’s an asset to all the tenants here.”

Jason Begin, 36, operates the manual elevator door Wednesday while a person steps off at the Cyr Block Professional Building on Main Street in Waterville. Begin has worked at the historic building as an elevator operator and maintenance person for 10 years. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

Mary Collar, who owns the business, “All About Lice,” was effusive about Begin, both as a worker and a person.

“People love having an elevator guy — they do,” Collar said. “I love him. He’s so helpful and he’s so quiet and unassuming. He’s helped me so many times, and he never minds one bit.”

Contacted Tuesday, Joan Cohen, deputy commissioner of the state Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, said elevator operators aren’t required to be licensed in Maine, but elevators must be certified and inspected annually. She said she didn’t know if the Professional Building’s manually operated elevator is the last one in the state, as the state doesn’t track that information.

But Peter Ouellette, owner of Casco Bay Elevator of Auburn, said he believes it is the last one in Maine. Ouellette inspects and maintains the elevator. Fowler, the property manager, says it has always worked like a charm.

“It’s an old elevator, 102 years old, but overall it is in perfect operating condition and it’s maintained and serviced,” he said. “We’ve never had a problem with it and it has never broken down.”

Wikipedia lists Waterville’s Professional Building elevator as one of a few manually operated elevators in the country. It lists others in Chicago, Illinois; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Dayton, Ohio; Louisville, Kentucky; Buffalo, New York; and Asheville, North Carolina.

Amy Calder has been a Morning Sentinel reporter 35 years. Her columns appear here Saturdays. She is the author of the book, “Comfort is an Old Barn,” a collection of her curated columns, published in 2023 by Islandport Press. She may be reached at acalder@centralmaine.com. For previous Reporting Aside columns, go to centralmaine.com

The 1922 Cyr Building at 179 Main St. in Waterville shown Wednesday. Jason Begin, 36, has operated the building’s manual elevator for the past 10 years. He also does maintenance work in the building. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel