Minutes, Accessibility Zero Hour Discussion
10/24/2010
Session began at 8:45 am with 18 present.
Chase Clement led the discussion with the following queries:
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All are Welcome? Making our acts consistent with our words. On Adelphi's
website: "The Meeting House is wheelchair accessible and has equipment for
the hearing impaired". [Since removed]
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What is our accessibility testimony?
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Which of Adelphi's areas are to be made accessible? What are the possible
methods of achieving this accessibility?
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What is known about the cost of possible solutions?
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What challenges and opportunities are present here?
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Other issues/concerns?
Re: How accessible:
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Friend who works for HHS on implementing the Americans with Disabilities
Act (which grants exceptions to religious institutions) described the spirit
of the law — that the accommodations are designed and built so
that people with disabilities "shouldn't have to ask" for accommodations.
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Friend shared experiences at FGC where child in wheelchair was a full participant
in the Gathering due to the commitment to make the Gathering fully accessible.
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After some discussion, there seemed to be general support for making our
facilities accessible in a manner that no one would need to ask for a special
arrangement to be made in order to participate.
Elevator option: To make our facilities fully accessible, we may need
a four level elevator — possibly located between the two buildings,
closer to the White House and serving both buildings by means of a new connecting
link. There is a 4" difference in the levels of the main floors of the White
House and the Meeting House, which could be ramped up.
Other accessibility options considered
Ramp option: Need to make it a 1/12 slope, which means it would be
over 110 feet long total--more than twice as long as the meetinghouse--a
long walk for someone having difficulty walking. A ramp this size would be
expensive to build, especially if it is weather protected.
Chair lift option: Chair lift would effectively block the use of the
stairways — building codes probably require that stairways be open;
Current stairway has landing — making transfers more difficult
and requiring two chair lift units. It would be awkward and unsafe for person
in wheelchair to transfer from chair to landing. Person's wheelchair would
need to be transported to the other level separately.
Replace White House with one-story building: The option of replacing
White House with one-story building was discussed — extend it out
into playground area (move resident apt and Meeting office to Meeting House
basement): Concern about the cost of this option. The cost of an elevator
is similar to the cost of building only a small area of new construction
(about 200-300 square feet). It was also suggested that the cost of an elevator
would be similar to the transaction fees to sell our present property. Replacing
White House would be very costly, probably not worth it, if intended to avoid
the relatively minor cost of an elevator
Other approaches/comments:
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Concern about broadening discussion of accessibility to include hearing impaired.
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Concern that accessibility to the outdoors also be considered —
currently we do not good access to the back yard of the Meeting House grounds.
Vision of having more outdoor activities, maybe build a free standing pavilion
for outdoor worship (possibly have screens to keep mosquitoes out).
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Concern that we balance costs of accessibility with other
priorities — green features, social justice, other issues that
didn't rate as high in the survey but are still important.
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Recommendation to update website to describe limits of current accessibility
to Meeting House. Agreed, with the understanding that the original statement
was true to the best understanding of those who wrote it.
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Encourage Meeting members to draw and share their own design ideas. Have
a "design work session", where people present their ideas for building design.
Dave Roberts volunteered to assist people in developing their designs. Then
have a "design fair". Scale he is using is 1" to 8' so that the drawings
of the house and grounds could fit on a card table. Good reaction to this
suggestion.
Summary of Next Steps:
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Get structural engineer's report on soundness of current buildings for the
next 50 years.
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Correct statements on Meeting website to be accurate about our current
accessibility.
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Have a Green Zero Hour to discuss energy saving and other sustainability
measures - not yet scheduled.
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Hear presentation from other meetings (Sandy Spring and Langley Hill) on
10/31/2010.
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Hold Design work session.
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Hold Design Fair, where people present their ideas.
Session ended at 9:50 am
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Last updated: 11/23/2010
