Ramp to make Romare Bearden Park more equally accessible

Mecklenburg County plans to replace a set of steps at Romare Bearden Park with a ramp to make the popular uptown park more equally accessible.

A civil rights complaint lodged last September by local disability rights advocates charged that the parks lighted water fountain isnt accessible from Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard for disabled visitors because its two entrances are steps. Those visitors, the advocates said, must use the parks front entrance on Church Street or a side entrance on West Third Street to get to the fountain.

As a temporary fix to meet civil rights standards of the American Disabilities Act, County Manager Dena Diorio decided to install two benches last month to block openings to the two entrances so no one can use them.

Yet all parts of the park remain open and equally accessible through other entrances.

Commissioner Bill James called the temporary fix a legalistic bone-headed move in an email Wednesday to commissioners.

Does anyone really believe that the county would purposely, and with malice, design a facility to discriminate against disabled people? he wrote. Barring the entrance to these two steps does not fix the ... problem. It just insured that everyone was equally unhappy with the result.

The park meets the ADAs accessibility guidelines, said Mark Hahn, the countys asset and facility management director.

But the complaint focused on the laws civil rights portion, Hahn said. It asserted that the two entrances from Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard prevent visitors with disabilities from accessing this particular program area in the same manner as the general public, he said.

So, with approval from the disability rights advocates, Diorio decided to temporarily shut down the two entrances until the permanent fix is complete.

At Wednesdays commission meeting, James proposed leaving one of the entrances open while the ramp is being built at the other. He said he agreed that the ramp needed to be installed, but was concerned that closing the two entrances will open the county to other litigation from disabilities advocates.

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Ramp to make Romare Bearden Park more equally accessible