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REGULAR MEETING SEPTEMBER 27, 1971
<br />CITIZENS REQUESTS - MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS (Cont.)
<br />"EASTER SEAL SOCIETY FOR CRIPPLED CHILDREN AND ADULTS OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, INC."
<br />521 West Colfax Avenue - South Bend, Indiana 46601
<br />MICHIANA CHAPTER OF THE NATIONAL PARAPLEGIA FOUNDATION
<br />Good evening, Members of the Common Council.
<br />I am serving as spokesman for the Michiana Chapter of the National Paraplegia
<br />Foundation sponsored by the Easter Seal Society, A United Way Agency affiliated with
<br />the United Health Foundation of St. Joseph County.
<br />We come before you to ask, and strongly urge, your help in solving a most ser-
<br />ious problem, the problem of making the buildings, both public and private, and the
<br />downtown area of our city accessible to the physically handicapped citizens of our
<br />community through the elimination of Architectural Barriers.
<br />An Architectural Barrier is any feature of the man made physical environment
<br />which impedes or restricts the mobility of physically handicapped people. Some of
<br />the more common building features which deny the physically handicapped full usage
<br />of its facilities are: Steps, narrow doorways, inaccessible restrooms and lack of
<br />elevators.
<br />Several members of the Council are already familiar with this problem as a re-
<br />sult of an informal meeting with our group earlier this year. At that time they
<br />seemed most sympathetic to the problem and agreed to look into several specific com-
<br />plaints. This summer we met with members of the Downtown Council, who also were
<br />made aware of the problem as was the Department of Redevelopment. They listened,
<br />agreed that the problem existed, and all said that they couldn't do much about it
<br />because of the existing local building codes.
<br />Precedents in the area do exist. On August 12, 1968, the Congress of the United
<br />States passed a Bill #90 -480 stating that all new buildings or facilities being re-
<br />modeled, using Federal money must be Barrier free and accessible to everyone. Volume
<br />1 of the Indiana State Building Code contains a similar law making similar provisions
<br />where State money is used. What is needed now is an up- dating of our local Building
<br />Codes to comply with these laws and adequate inspection and enforcement of them.
<br />Admittedly, many of the Barriers we face today are in older buildings, both pub-
<br />lic and private, that were erected long before the idea to eliminate Architectural
<br />Barriers came into being, but to continue to follow the archaic course of allowing
<br />buildings to be erected or remodeled without making them accessible to all citizens,
<br />is shortsighted and discriminatory at best.
<br />You may ask just how big a problem is this? Are there really many handicapped
<br />persons? Reliable government estimates and projections say that by 1980 over 50% of
<br />all U.S. citizens will be physically disabled to some degree. Consider, if you will,
<br />the numerous ailments which curtail the mobility of our ever growing segment of our
<br />population. We have heart disease, stroke, spinal cord injury, birth defects, blind-
<br />ness, multiple sclerosis, multiple dystrophy, arthritis, amputees and emphysema.
<br />Figured on a national basis, there are literally millions of disabled, and we have
<br />our fair share locally in South Bend and St. Joseph County. You all know some of
<br />them. Many, if not most of them, are tax paying citizens.
<br />Many dedicated persons are presently engaged in trying to build a new and better
<br />South Bend. The Common Council has played a large, though sometimes unpopular, part
<br />in these efforts. Why allow all these new changes to be made if all people cannot
<br />use and enjoy them equally?
<br />Presently, because of Architectural Barriers, the Post Office is unusable to
<br />many. The County Court House has been impossible for years. The new LaSalle High
<br />School has no elevator to the second floor. Not a theatre in town has a rest room
<br />accessible to anyone in a wheelchair.
<br />Now, we are to have a Downtown Mall and a new Civic Center. Will the present
<br />building codes be allowed to make them outdated and inaccessible before they become
<br />a reality? We would hope not.
<br />The needed changes in the Building Code would provide some of the following
<br />things:
<br />1. Handrails on all stairways.
<br />2. Non -slip floors
<br />3. Lower drinking fountains and telephones for wheelchair users and small
<br />children.
<br />4. At least one building entrance at ground level.
<br />5. Thirty -six inch wide, easy opening doors.
<br />6. Level thresholds to buildings and rooms.
<br />7. Sloping ramps, where possible in place of steps.
<br />8. Access to elevators.
<br />9. Eliminate revolving doors, either with electronic doors or those so balanced
<br />as to need only slight pressure to open.
<br />10. Ramped or sloping curbs.
<br />11. Smoother sidewalks.
<br />These features are practical for all citizens, not just the handicapped. Complete
<br />specifications for these and other features are available from the American Society
<br />of Architects. Most architects agree that when these features are planned into a
<br />building from the start no extra costs are incurred. But, sadly, human nature's resis-
<br />tance to change seems to indicate that most of the changes will be made only when it
<br />becomes mandatory, and that means up- dating and some changing of our local Building
<br />Codes.
<br />So in summary, we are asking that you improve and change our local Building Codes
<br />and provide meaningful inspection and enforcement of these changes.
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