Accessibility - sponsored by Universal Design Newsletter
Wheelchair Access Evaluated: Douglas Works to Identify Trouble Spots
By Steven H. Foskett Jr.
Worcester Telegram & Gazette Corp.
Published Aug 9th, 2006 http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060809/NEWS/608090692
DOUGLAS, MA — The Americans with Disabilities Act didn't take effect until around 87 years after the Simon Fairfield Public Library was constructed.
The 103-year-old Main Street landmark's steep front stairs don't exactly exude accessibility, and plans for a multimillion-dollar renovation and expansion fell through last year.
Complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act has been a struggle in town, and residents and town employees will be invited to a public hearing this month to examine where the town stands in accommodating people with disabilities.
The public hearing is part of a self-evaluation and transition plan the town is required to complete as it works toward compliance with the ADA, Executive Administrator Michael J. Guzinski said.
Mr. Guzinski said he is coordinating the program along with Building Commissioner Adelle Reynolds and lawyer Madeleine Moreno from New England Disability Services. He said the Aug. 22 public hearing is the public's chance to weigh in.
He said the feedback from the hearing will be folded in to the self-evaluation and could make public officials aware of problems they might not have known about.
“It's not just town buildings,” Mr. Guzinski said. “It's sidewalks, curbs, and proper handicapped access in other areas as well. Sometimes, for people without disabilities, it's hard locating the trouble spots.”
The library, quite simply, is inaccessible and out of compliance with the ADA, Ann D. Carlsson, the library's director, said yesterday. She said anyone who uses a wheelchair faces either the imposing front staircase, or a rear entrance that has several steps down.
“Right now, they can't get in,” Ms. Carlsson said.
She said she and her staff have been forced to work around the problem.
“I have an outreach program where we'll bring books to a person, or send them by mail, or meet them at the curb,” Ms. Carlsson said. “All they have to do is ask.”
Ms. Carlsson said that when the library project died last year, plans for handicapped accessibility died with it. She said she hopes the ADA self-evaluation will provide additional strategies to the Board of Library Trustees for making the building comply with the law on accessibility.