Washington College will host actors from Harford Community College on Wednesday, March 26, for a performance of In Their Words, a poignant portrayal of what it is like to live with a physical or mental disability. Sponsored by the College’s Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Office of Academic Skills, and Counseling Services, it will take place at 7 p.m. in The Egg, a performance space on the ground floor of Hodson Hall Commons.
In Their Words was written by Dawn Volkart, a student development specialist at Harford Community College. The script is based on Volkart’s experiences as a therapist and support specialist and on stories that community members submitted about their own trials and victories living with disabilities. It includes monologues, music and comedy. According to press materials, audiences “will never look at disability the same way.”
The performance is free and open to the public, but it does contain adult themes and may not be suitable for young children.
Margaret Fallaw says
Editor,
How interesting. While Washington College has done better in recent years than formerly to accommodate students with learning disabilities, it seems to have little concern for people with physical disabilities (temporary or permanent), whether students, student family members or friends, employees, community members, or other visitors to the campus. In fact, WC seems to be breaking the law (namely the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which has been in effect for almost 25 years), most flagrantly in regard to two important recently rebuilt or new buildings that are heavily patronized by not only students and staff but also by the general public: Hodson Hall and the Gibson Center for the Performing Arts. The design standards have been online (in .pdf form) for years, at http://www.ada.gov.
There is not a single entry from the exterior into either building that can be managed easily (or at all, in some cases) by an unaccompanied person using crutches, a walker, or a wheelchair. The old, original main entry to the 1930s section of Hodson Hall, which houses Hynson Lounge and the faculty lounge, requires navigating many stairs and may be exempt (grandfathered) from meeting ADA requirements because that part of the building (or at least most public parts of it) were not substantially altered when the new section (that includes the Commons/the dining hall) was built several years ago. The only other public entries to the building (at the front and rear of the new section) consist of multiple/”ganged” tall, heavy, glass double doors that must be opened manually (and held open while anyone is passing through since there’s not even a “catch” [maybe using a detent feature] after a door leaf is fully opened so that it will stay open while a person is entering, then closed manually). The WC powers-that-be ought to try using these doors solo while on crutches or using a walker. It may be possible (though difficult) if they are able-bodied and strong, but many who uses assistive walking devices are not. A person who is alone in a wheelchair will most likely be unable to enter or leave the building independently, and as I know from experience, it’s very difficult for a person in a wheelchair who can’t self-propel it (for one reason or another) to use the doors even if there is a companion along. There may be someone in the vicinity who will rush to help when he or she sees the need for assistance (though, amazingly, some will just stand there and watch the struggle with the door); sometimes there’s no one else nearby. In any case, the ADA regulations have long required that a disabled person must be able to enter or leave a public/open-to-the-public building independently.
The situation is the same at the performing arts center. The entry at the end of the academic/studios wing of the building (whose 1960s shell was retained during the recent redo) still require being able to navigate stairs. The other entries, at the front and rear of the new section, are not accessible; they appear to be the same glass double doors as used at Hodson Hall, with not one of them having an accessible, push-button, automatic opening capability usable by those with physical disabilities. It’s true that both buildings now have elevators, but the gotcha is that the disabled can’t get inside to use them if their destination is on an upper level.
Last fall I chanced to be at the performing arts center when a small bus from one of the local nursing homes arrived at the rear entrance (on the parking-lot side). It was bringing a number of residents to the annual concert benefiting the Vincent Hynson Scholarship Fund. Most were using walkers or wheelchairs (with those in the latter exiting the bus via the bus’s lift). There was a staff member (or maybe two) along to help get people off the bus, but it was obvious more help was needed thereafter, namely to get people into the building, so I stayed there (fuming at the inaccessibility situation, with which I was already all too familiar), opening and closing a door until all got inside. I’d say there was a loss of dignity by those disabled attendees in that situation. True, once in the concert hall, they (or most) could sit in the space/row reserved for the physically handicapped so they would not have to deal with stairs, a wise (and ADA-required, I think) inclusion in the rebuilt building, but getting there shouldn’t have been such a problem.
How/why did this omission of accessible entries happen? I don’t want to call it an oversight because compliance with the ADA is surely the responsibility of someone (actually, probably several someones) involved with such major construction. Surely a licensed architect (and/or building engineer) must be required to review (and perhaps sign) final building plans and specifications. Surely the main contractor (and doors subcontractor, if there was such) would notice the non-compliant door situation and call attention to it during construction or review of plans when bidding or building. And what about a certificate of occupancy, generally issued by a local government after ascertaining that building-code requirements—and ADA compliance—have been met? Presumably, since WC is within Chestertown’s boundaries, the town would be responsible for this. Was there even such an inspection and was a certificate ever issue? Or has the relationship between town and gown become so cozy that this was omitted?
Were accessible entries omitted during construction to reduce costs, and if so, authorized by whom? If cost was the reason, that’s certainly penny-wise, pound-foolish. Did no one realize that having no accessible entry to these important buildings delivers a message to many that WC doesn’t care about their needs and, in addition, thumbs its nose at the law (which many know about)? “Many” includes disabled prospective students (and their families, some of whose members may be disabled), students who become disabled (temporarily or permanently) while enrolled, employees (prospective or already hired) who may need building accessibility, and all sorts of local and out-of-area visitors to the campus, who come to attend one event or another. The situation leads to ill will rather than good will toward the college.
One final comment: WC also needs to deal with the absence of signage for the physically disabled in Hodson Hall whose destination is Hynson Lounge, site of many lectures and other events, many open to the public. Those who can’t deal with the stairs at the old, main entry to HL need to be directed from that entry to the new section of the building, where the only elevator in the building that will help them get to HL is located but very obscure. (The more obvious elevator in the building goes only to the 2nd and 3rd levels of the Commons section, where there is no public access to Hynson Lounge, just a sort of back way through part of the kitchen.) Extensive PERMANENT signage needs to be placed for those entering through either the front or rear doors. This needs to be on the walls of “the egg” and at the opening leading to the restroom area, where one must make an immediate left turn to the appropriate elevator, which is out of one’s line of sight. A sign about the next step should be posted in the elevator, with the appropriate door into HL thereafter clearly marked.
Oh yes, one more thing: WC needs to monitor and enforce the rules re the (too-few) parking spaces marked as being for the handicapped. All too often we found all such spaces near our destination already occupied, often by some/all vehicles bearing neither a handicapped license plate nor a mirror hangtag. Such vehicles, apparently used for “convenience” or out of arrogance or whatever by mostly students or employees never seemed to be ticketed. Occasionally, while we were pondering our next move, the seemingly able drivers would come bopping back to their vehicles and leave (and I tried to resist, but only sometimes, giving them a piece of my mind).
Reid Raudenbush says
Editor,
Washington College is always open to suggestions for how to make campus more welcoming and accessible to visitors, but as the Director of Physical Plant I must point out that many of Marge Fallaw’s criticisms are based on factual errors.
The renovation plans for Hodson Hall and Gibson Performing Arts were designed by GWWO Architects of Baltimore and both are in full compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The plans are stamped and signed attesting to compliance with all relevant building codes.
Neither building previously contained public elevators; there are now five between the two buildings. All restrooms have been rebuilt to be ADA compliant. And so on.
The Town of Chestertown retains an independent inspection agency for code compliance for construction projects. Only when a building passes inspection by this agency and the State Fire Marshal’s office is a Certificate of Occupancy issued. Mrs. Fallaw’s suggestion that such inspections were not made and required certificates were not issued is offensive.
To correct other assertions: It is not necessary to walk a single stair to gain entry to Hynson Lounge. As she states, there is an elevator from the ground level directly to this space. It is also false to say that stairs need to be taken to access the studio wing of Gibson.
Mrs. Fallaw notes that the entry doors of both buildings are difficult to navigate and implies that this makes them noncompliant; however, automatic doors are not required by the ADA. That said, I will discuss with staff the cost of converting one entrance at each building to an automatic opener. I was not previously aware of the extreme difficulties Mrs. Fallaw describes having with the existing doors.
I agree that directional signage could be improved. There is a committee reviewing the shortcomings of all signage on campus, and I will add this important wayfinding need to their list. I also agree that the enforcement of handicapped parking violations could be more vigorous. The College has the required number of handicapped spaces per the ADA, and we have tried to place them in the most useful and logical locations.
Again, I appreciate these observations on accessibility from the wife of a beloved former faculty member. But I would encourage others with such concerns to contact me or the President’s Office directly.
Sincerely,
Reid C. Raudenbush
Director of Physical Plant
Washington College
[email protected]
Judith Hughes says
Editor,
Having had the pleasure of attending this performance at Harford Community College, I encourage the community to attend. The play is well done with a fine script, excellent acting, and outstanding music and visual effects. In moments the content is somewhat unsettling because it commands awareness of the intimate effects of disabilities on those individuals who suffer them. However, the infusion of comedy offers relief and balance to serious topics. Personally, I “will never look at disability the same way.” In Their Words does not disappoint.