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Indeed. It was actually redone a few years ago. It used to be under the water flush with the bottom. But obviously that meant all the mechanics of the elevator were constantly under water. Now they built that nice wall around it so the water stays out. (but you can see the floor of the elevator in it's home position is actually lower then the walls, because it is still at it's original home position.
It is used to access the raised water area around hulk. It's how they get the high reach in to paint and do maintenance.