PARKS/NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

One of my goals is to make sure that all parks in District 2 are accessible for persons with disabilities, especially children. No child should be left behind when it comes to utilizing our parks. The Americans with Disabilities Act and other related civil rights laws require that governmental services be readily available and usable by persons with disabilities.
During the past 4 years I have had the great please of working with Tom Mulroy, the city's ADA coordinator and with David Flarehty the Director of Parks and Recreation to bring our city parks into compliance with the ADA. 

When Mr. Flarehty first came to Pensacola, we had a meeting and I expressed to him my desire that the City create accessible playground equipment that will allow children who use wheelchair to access all of the elements of the equipment. This dream has been realized at two parks - Bayview and Sanders Beach. Those two parks are worth checking out to understand what is meant' by the term "Boundless Playgrounds" or "universally designed" playgrounds. The two playgrounds that have rubberized matting are truly awesome to see and experience. I invite you to visit them. Now this brings me to the issue of District 2 parks. 

I have not surveyed all of the parks in District 2, but the the ones I have surveyed do not meet the requirements of accessibility as set forth under Title II of the ADA. For instance, a beautiful new sidewalk was installed at a lovely park on Northbrook - but, there is no curb cut at the entrance which means a person using a wheelchair would not be able to access the park. Furthermore, none of the elements of the park were accessible because of the lack of sidewalks, or accessible path of travel going to all the elements.  I have extensive knowledge in the requirements of the American's with Disabilities Act Accessible Guidelines. I intend to use this knowledge to assure that every park in District 2 is handicap accessible.

You can help! If you see a park that you think is not accessible either call me, e-mail me, or take a picture and post it to this blog. Let's don't leave anyone behind. Let's be inclusive with the reputation of having the most livable communities in the City of Pensacola.