Locked out of your dorm room? Keypad to your office acting up? Fenerlis, who has served as locksmith for the Boston campus since 1993, is the guy to call.
Northeastern University’s Planning, Real Estate and Facilities division has its fair share of highly visible jobs — staffers who renovate office spaces, paint, put up signs and build eye-catching new structures around the Boston campus.
Peter Fenerlis’ job isn’t as noticeable, but it’s crucial — for three decades, he’s ensured that members of the Northeastern community can access the places they need to go.
Fenerlis became a locksmith via correspondence course, after answering an ad on a matchbox. He joined Northeastern in 1993. Since then, the campus has transitioned from a wholly analog, lock-and-key setup to one where electronic keypads are everywhere.
Northeastern Global News spoke with Fenerlis about his career breaking into buildings (legally), putting his two children through college at Northeastern, and how he relaxes in his spare time. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
I was working for Apahouser Lock & Security for 10 years as a vendor locksmith for the university, and an opening came up and I applied. Free tuition for my children was a great motivator, and as a vendor I connected with it personally. It was always a pleasure.
We still work with just keys, standard locks and door handles: People will order keys, lose keys and we change the locks. People get locked out all the time, forget their keys at home, leave their keys in the car, stuff like that. But now we work with electronic locks too. We get a lot of [repair requests for] those. Sometimes the board fails on them so you have to replace the exterior of the lock, or the batteries die, or leak acid and damage the units.
It’s a joy to work here: great teammates and leadership. All the facilities people get along together pretty well. We keep it happy.
The way we open locks without keys. We pick the lock, sometimes we drill it. People say, “Wow, what else can you break into?”
Making a positive impact on my children. My son graduated in 2009. My daughter-in-law went here, too; they met at Northeastern.
I go to Symphony Sushi and Kigo in the Curry Center. I get the spicy peanut sauce or the curry.
I wouldn’t change my profession. I was always interested in locks and security as a kid.
Walking through the forest and taking it all in. I go to the Berkshires and the New Hampshire woods, and Caryl Park in Dover.