HAMMOND | Sheila Jasper waits in the doorway.

"Good morning, Sheila," the man says.

"Good morning! Going to 2?"

Jasper is one of a dying breed, working part-time as an elevator operator in The Illiana Building at 5246 Hohman Ave. in downtown Hammond.

Jasper retired after working eight years as a pharmacy technician when she got a call in October 2006 from a friend who works in the building about the need for an elevator operator.

"I thought this sounded like an interesting job," she said.

The training took about a week, with one of the other elevator operators showing her the ropes.

On one shift last week, she wore a cheery, green print dress, stockings and heels.

"I represent the building," she said. "I'm the first person they see in the morning, so I have got to look nice."

She knows everyone who works in the building and their floors. The job takes her up and down the building about 100 times each day.

Jasper said seeing her in the elevator brings back memories for a lot of her riders, who often share stories with her.

"People talk about the old Goldblatts building or the bank building in Gary or the Minas building here downtown," she said.

Jasper said she doesn't get many comments about elevator music or requests for songs. People do joke that her job "has its ups and downs."

To operate the elevator, Jasper must first slide the two doors closed.

Jasper has to eyeball where to stop the car on any given floor because the elevator doesn't have an automatic leveler. The panel inside the elevator that should light up as the car passes each floor doesn't always work, so Jasper has to count the floors as she passes them.

"I have to judge how fast and how slow to be, to be able to get it level to the floor," Jasper said. "I always say, 'Watch your step,' just in case."

An Otis maintenance worker comes once a month to inspect the elevator.

"He says it's so old, he can't get the parts," Jasper said. "The parts are hard to get so he wants me to take it easy on it."

When the building opened as the Palatial Haberdashery in May 1929, it was front page news. It later became the Rothschild building, with the Lake Superior Courthouse just to the north, where the building's parking lot now is located.

The five-story building is home to the law firm of Efron, Efron and Yahne, which has large photos in the fifth-floor lobby showing the building in the glory days of downtown Hammond.

"When I meet with new clients, oftentimes one of the first things we discuss is the elevator," said Scott Yahne, a partner in the firm.

Yahne said Jasper is "absolutely delightful, an absolute ray of sunshine."

Yahne said the elevator is "a real jewel that we've been able to maintain."

"We've looked at replacing the elevator over the years, but it's such a unique fixture," Yahne said. "Having a person actually in the elevator serves a dual purpose for us of knowing who is in the building and having the camaraderie built by having someone who shares the news and disseminates it throughout the building."

When she's done for the day, Jasper parks the elevator in the basement. Anyone remaining on the upper floors of the building can take the stairs down or use the manually operated service elevator toward the back of the building.

"I love this little part-time job," she said. "I'm not going to get rich doing it, but I enjoy it."