Emergency Exit, or lack of....

We have 3 elevators manufactured by Otis in the Mid 70s, their first generation Hydros. The canopy design is 2 tiered, and there was never an emergency exit, due to the fact that being a hydraulic elevator, it was believed rescue operations could be performed simply via manual lowering. It is time to modernize these units. Cab work has been performed with the installation of a single piece ceiling. Question is, is there any way around having to replace the ceiling and adding the emergency exit? The design of the canopy does not really allow enough space to cut a hatch that would meet code requirements therefore the entire canopy may have to be replaced. It's in Florida.....

A17.1 section 8 i believe will show what u have to upgrade according to what all the mod includes and im sure you will have to make a hatch i have the book can send the page tomarow if you still need the answer. Also could file for variance if not physically possible.