The Park District of Highland Park
The Park District of Highland Park has retained RAC to conduct the required accessibility audit of District sites and facilities. Our work at this modern and award-winning District begins in January. The District marked its 100th Anniversary in 2009 and has a prestigious history. In 1970, this park district formed the very first special recreation association, NSSRA, in association with nearby park districts. Liza McElroy, the Executive Director of the District said “Our Board of Commissioners wants to make certain every resident can enjoy the benefits of our parks and our recreation programs. We look forward to the work that Recreation Accessibility Consultants will do.”
RAC Does Transition Plans, Too
A current client of ours, the Will County Forest Preserve District, retained us to review their lengthy transition plan. Another district had us write their plan after using another consultant to conduct the access audit. Whether your organization conducted the audit yourself, used another firm, or used RAC, we can help you take that long list of deficits and pare it down to an action plan that meshes with your other plans.
Have You Received A Complaint?
It does happen. Some ADA complaints are managed effectively through your internal complaint process, which is mandated by the ADA if you have 50 or more employees. Others are not. A complaint may come to you through Federal District Court, the U.S. Department of Interior, the U.S. Department of Justice, or even the Office of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. If it happens to your agency, we can assist you.
Our firm has been retained by several parks and recreation agency clients after an access or inclusion complaint has been filed. In one instance, it was an actual lawsuit filed in Federal District Court. In two other instances, it was complaints filed under Illinois law with the Illinois Attorney General Disability Rights Bureau. Our initial work with these clients has been to quickly evaluate the sites that are to be investigated. We report to the district the type and number of access violations likely to be flagged and then recommend ways in which the agency can remedy those deficits. In many instances they are simple solutions, such as adding door closers to maintenance staff checklists and making sure that doors open with the appropriate pounds of force. In other instances though, the solutions can be expensive, such as correcting a ramp slope or adding an elevator. Issues such as these may be the result of a problem or an error when construction or alterations occurred.
We have worked well with the Office of the Attorney General. We successfully closed one case and we are now working to close another. RAC President John McGovern served his law school internship in 1987 and was with the newly formed Disability Rights Bureau while working full time at WSSRA. He understands the investigatory process and how that office works. In the closed case, the Chief Attorney for the AG’s office remarked how smoothly this case went with RAC's involvement. She then imposed zero fines and penalties on the park district.
If any park district or municipal recreation department receives an ADA complaint against them, whether administrative or in court, think of our firm. There are other access firms, but no one has the unique experience we have at Recreation Accessibility Consultants LLC.
We Get E-mails.....
Former Illinoisan Rick Bemm, now in Washington, writes and says “I am looking for a recommendation on a golf course(s) that has an excellent policy in place for governing carts designated for handicap access on the course. We are finding that some of our golfers are abusing our efforts to accommodate. Is this something you can help me with or could you steer me in the right direction?”
We steered Rick towards the Golf Course Owners Toolkit developed by the National Alliance for Accessible Golf. The Alliance is a partnership of the big seven associations in the golf world, universities, some people with disabilities, and some representatives of therapy and disability organizations. RAC President John McGovern was involved through NRPA with the Alliance. In 2002 The Alliance recognized the need for a toolkit for golf courses.
McGovern was a part of the team that developed the toolkit. You can get the toolkit at http://www.accessgolf.org/resources/toolkit_owners.cfm. Get it, use it, and join the Alliance while you are at it.
Department of Justice Settlement Agreement
Speaking of the Department of Justice, a new settlement agreement regarding the City of Atlanta has been posted on the DOJ web page. This settlement names parks and recreation sites and facilities that require access improvements. As stated in previous newsletters, please don’t believe those who say parks don’t have to comply with the ADA requirements. They do, especially in black-and-white issues such as an accessible route to park amenities. Check out http://www.ada.gov/atlanta_pca/atlanta_sa.htm.
Gold Medal Awards
At the recent NRPA Congress in Salt Lake City, the American Academy of Park and Recreation Administration and NRPA presented the prestigious Gold Medal Awards for Excellence in Parks and Recreation. The Gold Medal is a highly competitive competition. It takes a great effort by board members, professional staff, volunteers, and others to achieve the level of excellence necessary for this recognition. Congratulations to the recipient agencies:
Class I (population 250,000 and over) - Milwaukee County Department of Parks, Recreation & Culture, Wisconsin
Class II (population 100,001 – 250,000) - Fox Valley Park District, Illinois
Class III (population 50,001 – 100,000) - Hoffman Estates Park District, Illinois
Class IV (population 25,001 – 50,000) - Lombard Park District, Illinois
Class V (population less than 25,000) - Itasca Park District, Illinois
Class - State - Pennsylvania Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources - Bureau of State Parks
Mowed Grass Doesn't Cut It Part II
We have had some good feedback to our November e-news article about mowed grass paths. Please remember that grass just isn’t, under any circumstance, an accessible surface. A park with anything in the middle that attracts people (playground, gazebo, historic monument, stage, climbing wall, ballfield) must have an accessible route from parking or sidewalk that will take a visitor with a disability to that destination. This is not news and has been the law of the land since 1992.