The buildings surveyed for this report included The Trade and Transit Center 1 (TT1), The Trade and Transit Center II (TT2) the River Valley Transit (RVT) facility, The Transportation Museum, and historic City Hall. The overall accessibility in the first four buildings was good to excellent, mostly depending on the year of construction and current status. City Hall is a very historic structure but because it is over 100 years old, it is constructed of very tough materials and architecture to renovate for Title II Program Access within the limited envelope of rooms and spaces.
The TT1 building was constructed in 1999, and had an assortment of more or less minor issues to address to have good program access in the facility. Adjustments like moving AEG boxes so they are not protruding objects for people with vision-related disabilities, as well as minor adjustments to coat hooks, mirrors, paper towel dispensers, and baby changing stations were common occurrences. There could be some drinking fountain work if they are left in place, and the basement toilet rooms will need to be expanded or combined to create a usable restroom with 60-inch minimum clearance at the toilet, compliant with the current Standards and Model Building Codes.
At TT2, having been built in 2016, there were even fewer issues and minor adjustments listed in the Spreadsheet beyond what has been mentioned. Much of the work can be addressed as the currently unoccupied spaces are built-out to suit their new city departments – like ramping two steps in an egress corridor and adjusting counter and service window heights.
The RVT is a 2009 vintage facility and overall is also very accessible. There are some maintenance issues like fully repairing curb ramp transitions, and one curb ramp to correct as well as providing an accessible route at the picnic table. The two toilet rooms in the front corridor have very narrow stalls, but the fix is as easy as pulling the partitions – they already have locks on the entrance doors for single users. The one serious issue at this building was the accessible shower in the Men’s Locker room does not have the compliant 36 X 48 wheelchair transfer space. The correction may include wall work and perhaps a replaced shower unit.
The Transportation Museum is under construction inside, but I was able to see room size, door position, and maneuvering clearances at the current stage of construction. The restrooms had not been touched yet, but only needed a couple of grab bars repositioned. The other issue at the Museum is filling all the concrete expansion joints along the accessible route to the train car exhibit out back.
At City Hall, there are stairs at every entrance except the Police Dept. There is hardly a level parking space on this site. Where office doors were locked, we did not assess the interior of the space, but almost all doors had knob type hardware (we understand a count has been done so that is not part of this report). The bathrooms are so old, and so far out of compliance, that each toilet room is a major undertaking to make accessible. The finishes in the restrooms are certainly no longer available, so each room is a gut and re-do at big expense. The restrooms, path of travel, and elevator issues all present the need for major renovations including possible relocation of bearing walls, and moving rough-ins for plumbing and electric work which may lead to additional work on the dilapidated existing systems.
In Summary, the TT1, TT2, RVT and Museum buildings can all be very accessible with attention given to the few items pointed out in this report. In our opinion, the City Hall building would have to undergo a very large investment in remediation projects with marginal outcomes for better accessibility.
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