2008 Woodie Awards
Accessibility at BHC
College meets all ADA guidelines, exceeds some
Shreeya Rana and Scott Figuerola
Issue date: 4/30/07 Section: News
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According to the ADA, 2 percent of total parking spaces must be accessible for students with disabilities. Dwyer said 2 percent of Brookhaven's total parking would be 44 handicap spaces but he said the campus exceeds the requirement by 18.
Dwyer said the ADA requires 50 percent of all restroom and common doors have accessibility. He said 100 percent of all doors at Brookhaven are accessible.
"We added automatic door operators for the disabled, even though it is not a legal requirement, because of the compassion and the need to help students in education," Dwyer said.
He said the ADA states doors have to be 32 inches wide and require 18 pounds of force or less to open them. He said all Brookhaven doors are 36 inches wide and need 18 pounds of force or less.
Disabled student Armando Posada, psychology sophomore, said some doors have wheelchair symbols but do not open.
"I don't want to be a bother to somebody to open the doors," Posada said.
He said last semester as he was coming through a door in C Building, it shut and broke a knob off his wheelchair.
Posada said traveling from the International Courtyard to the T Building is an ordeal for him. He said the route he has to take goes from the sidewalk of the courtyard all the way around the east side of T Building.
He said recently he drove 20 miles in his wheelchair in four days, when he usually averages about five miles for the same time period.
He said the extended usage was due in part to there not being a direct ramp leading from M to T Building.
Dwyer said it would be nice to have two or three accessible routes to the same location but that is not always physically possible or a financially solid thing to do.
He said according to ADA guidelines any common area has to have one accessible route.
"They [the ADA] say it does not have to be the most direct route, although that would be nice," he said. "I had a contractor come out to look at putting in a ramp from the north doors of T down to the International Courtyard. It would cost between $45,000 to 55,000."
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