There is no doubt that the historic stone buildings of Eureka Springs combined with steep hills can make it challenging to provide access for handicapped people. But Eureka Springs resident Jane Stephens said the city doesn’t get a pass on complying with the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) mandates just because the town is historic.
The ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications and access to state and local government programs and services.
Stephens owned a restaurant in Palm Springs, Calif., and when it was remodeled in 1993, they were required to bring it into compliance with the ADA. She moved to Eureka Springs in 2011 and got involved in the issue in 2013 when she was appointed to a city committee.
“I thought it was going to be about making the downtown more handicapped accessible but what the committee was about was to know how to respond to people making ADA complaints,” Stephens said. “At that time, I was told everything within a mile-and-a-half of Basin Park was a historical landmark and didn’t need to comply.
“But nowhere in the U.S. is exempt from ADA requirements. I confirmed this with the Arkansas ADA office. My son is a building inspector in Colorado in an area with buildings as old as the ones we have here, and they are completely compliant with ADA.”
Stephens said the ADA was adopted 31 years ago, and it is past time for Eureka Springs to come into compliance. She said there is only one handicapped accessible restroom, downtown at the transit station by the courthouse, and some visitors might not know that restroom is available to people not using the trolleys.
The problem is not limited to historic buildings. Stephens said there are restaurants and grocery stores on Van Buren/US 62 that are not historic and yet are not complying with the laws to provide handicapped access to the building and bathrooms.
“They must comply,” Stephens said. “The only loophole ever is if you have a private club or church. Nobody expects you to tear up sidewalks and wreck the town. But right now, there might be six or seven handicapped spaces in the town and the two on Mountain Street have a 32 percent grade. It is supposed to be a maximum 11 percent grade. If you park there and get out of a car with a wheelchair, it is so steep you could end up in the window at the Roxy.”
Stephens said it is a problem that people don’t recognize until they become handicapped, or it happens to a loved one. She said she wants to see the mayor or one of the aldermen get in a wheelchair and go out to do their normal duties for one day.
ADA Enforcement is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Justice, and Stephens said she has no intention of filing a complaint.
“But someone will eventually file a complaint and when the DOJ investigates, they will just be appalled,” Stephens said. “It is not about me. It is about doing what is right. If you have a restaurant without handicapped access and a handicapped bathroom, it is a civil rights violation. Subway, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and Eureka Market have very nice handicapped bathrooms. But most restaurants in town are not handicapped accessible nor do they have handicapped accessible bathrooms. Hart’s grocery store’s bathrooms are not handicapped accessible.”
Stephens said the issue could affect tourism. People who are handicapped may skip a visit because of the barriers.
“This is a beautiful town and some of the sidewalks actually have amethyst set in them,” Stephens said. “We don’t want to destroy the integrity of historic landmarks. We just want you to think about handicapped access and make progress. Since 2011, about the only progress we have seen is an elevator in the Auditorium.”
Laura Jo Smole, a former city alderman, was active with a group of people who picketed City Hall about six years ago to advocate for ADA compliance. She said it was a major success adding an elevator to the Auditorium that allows access to the basement where most city meetings are now held. And she lauded the work to replace the lift from First Street to the main floor of the Aud.
“With a companion able to ride next to the handicapped person, it is much less scary,” Smole said.
She also said the city transit department has done a great job of providing handicapped accessible bathrooms at the Planer Hill parking lot and the Main Street Trolley Station.
The Carroll County Courthouse where city offices are located is not handicapped accessible. Smole said you can’t complain to the city government because the county owns the building. And with 18-inch-thick stone walls, there is really no way to add an elevator. Access can be a particular problem for handicapped people who need to get up to the top level courtroom.
Smole thinks the solution is to build a new City Hall, much as the city built a new police station out on Passion Play Road. A new City Hall could be fully handicapped accessible, have adequate parking, meeting room space and better office space and improved air quality.
“It is time to stop using this historic building as our city hall,” she said.
Many Eureka Springs sidewalks are uneven and potentially dangerous. Smole said even new sidewalks made with concrete imprinted to look like limestone are a barrier to anyone in a wheelchair or pushing a baby or pet stroller. The wheels get caught between the imprinted cracks in the concrete.
“A wheelchair is hard to push because the wheels want to get caught in textured concrete cracks,” Smole. “I was on a knee scooter a few years ago and parked on Mountain Street. It took me 25 minutes to get to Basin Park. With the texture of this limestone imprint, the smaller the wheel, the easier it gets caught. Someone who is not strong would never make it. I couldn’t imagine taking someone frail and elderly up and down these streets. It is hard to go up and down any of the sidewalks in the downtown historic district.”
Smole said the Historic District Commission needs to change its guidelines that allow only one type of imprinted concrete when replacing original limestone sidewalks.
“HDC needs to change their guidelines to permit flat sidewalks,” Smole said. “ADA is a federal law. When it is time to replace limestone, start putting in navigable concrete. Function should be more important than appearance. We are not an amusement park. We are an actual city, and the obligation of city government is to serve the citizens. We should be obliged to our citizens to provide sidewalks that are safe and accessible for people with walkers, strollers and wheelchairs.”
Smole said providing handicapped access to buildings and bathrooms downtown is challenging because you can’t destroy the main façade and doors couldn’t be widened without ramps outside that would create tripping hazards.
“It’s a tremendously complex issue,” she said. “Public bathrooms are another issue. Where the bathrooms are now it is about impossible to provide full ramps going up to them.”
Smole also recommends the maps available at City Hall of all the handicapped parking spaces and bathrooms in town.
“ADA Enforcement is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Justice, and Stephens said she has no intention of filing a complaint.”,,,
WHY? I would really like to see the town! But, I’m afraid to after reading this. What would my partner do once we got there???? I guess we’d have to look at the town from the bottom of the hill. Sad! Somebody PLEASE report this to the DOJ!!! It’s NOT fair!