Part three of a three-part series
Who says you can’t fight City Hall? Not the United States government.
As efforts to make the federal Americans With Disabilities Act a universally applied notion continue into their second decade, the U.S. Department of Justice is increasingly refocusing its attention from the private sector to the municipal stage. That objective was underscored last month when Attorney General Janet Reno unveiled the DOJ’s “Project Civic Access,” a program that will have investigators surveying cities, towns and county governments across the country to identify accessibility shortcomings and encourage those entities to comply with the ADA civil rights legislation.
“It’s a thorough initiative, and one that sounds very worthwhile,” Valerie Fletcher, executive director of the Adaptive Environments Center in Boston, told Banker & Tradesman last week. “It certainly seems to be waking people up.”
In launching Project Civic Access, the DOJ announced agreements with 10 communities that the agency says will bring the ADA to all aspects of civic life in those municipalities, including courthouses, libraries, polling places, police stations and recreational facilities such as parks and pools. Among those reaching settlements were Windham, Conn.; Hot Springs, Ark.; Springfield, Mo.; and Mt. Vernon, Wash.
According to the DOJ, the settlements with the 10 communities should provide guidance to other governmental bodies on how to meet the ADA mandate. Bill Lann Lee, acting assistant attorney general for civil rights, is encouraging civic leaders to do their own review and remediation in the stead of a DOJ investigation, but said the agency will continue to pursue other public violations of the law. Currently, communities in 15 unnamed states are in negotiations with the DOJ, said Lee, while on-site investigations are underway in another 25 states. Local governments will be notified later this fall of the changes needed to provide accessibility.
Besides physical barriers, the DOJ is asking cities and towns to upgrade 911 emergency services for the deaf and to install augmented-listening devices in legislative chambers, courtrooms and municipal auditoriums. The communities must also establish a timetable for providing auxiliary aids, including sign language interpreters and material in Braille, large print or on cassette tapes.
It is unclear whether any Bay State communities are included in the current DOJ reviews, with agency officials not returning several calls to discuss the program. According to Fletcher, whose group helps people understand the ADA and its ramifications, the city of Boston does have some shortcomings that make it difficult for people to maneuver about in public buildings. The main problem, however, is literally on the street, where Fletcher said there are inadequate curb cuts available to help people in wheelchairs and people with other mobility limitations navigate the city.
Understandably, Fletcher cites the age of the Hub as the biggest challenge in meeting the goals of the ADA. But while there may be some issues that need to be addressed, Fletcher also opines that city officials have made a concerted effort to comply. Some of the communities targeted under Project Civic Access had violations that ran 40 to 50 pages, Fletcher said.
“In terms of civic buildings, I think we are in reasonable shape,” she said. “We aren’t perfect, but I don’t think we are in the league of the cities that have had numerous complaints. A measurable and important amount of progress has been made” in Boston.
‘It Costs Money’
City officials also agree that Boston still has work to do, but Department of Neighborhood Development official Andrew Hudak maintains that the ADA is a leading priority of Mayor Thomas Menino. As deputy director of capital construction, Hudak said virtually every project his division works on has some element of ADA retrofitting in it, and he believes that will continue to be a focus with the estimated 150 additional projects in the pipeline.
“The mayor has continued to support the ADA upgrades,” Hudak said. “It might be easy to push those issues aside and build a new park or something that might be more politically popular, but he accepts that responsibility and has put the capital up to fund them.”
Hudak said his agency is attempting to quantify just how much investment in accessibility the city has done in recent years, but the report will not be available until later this autumn. Nonetheless, he said the issue comes up in nearly all projects undertaken. Typical jobs include adding new elevators, installing larger bathrooms and creating access into the building itself. Often, those accommodations lead to even more work. Given that most of the city’s property is over 25 years old, there may be significant structural work needed to make modifications, while a new elevator could require a new or improved electrical system.
“There’s a lot of associated work that costs a lot more money,” Hudak said.
Another challenge is making a property accessible without compromising its aesthetic qualities. Currently, for example, Hudak’s agency is working with Shepley Bulfinch Richardson Abbot Architects at the venerable Boston Public Library in the Back Bay. The project team has a potential solution in place, but it must first get the blessing of the city’s Landmarks Commission. Even then, Hudak said, “It’s a real challenge and it’s going to be expensive to accomplish” accessibility there in a tasteful design.
“In some cases, there are creative solutions that work, and in others it can be very difficult,” Hudak said. “In any case, it costs money.”
Despite those hurdles, Hudak said the city is striving to take the lead in making its buildings ADA-ready. He has a personal stake in the effort, he said, given that his wife teaches deaf children. Hudak insists that the administration is equally strident.
“Some people question the expense for a relatively small percentage of the population, but we will continue our commitment to [complying with the ADA],” he said. “It’s the law, and it’s the right thing to do.”
