DISABILITIES

By Daniel J. Vance

In recent columns, I featured Marilynn Phillips, who has been working to make the city of Gettysburg more accessible for residents and tourists. On June 27, I visited Gettysburg on vacation in part to view the situation firsthand and what I learned really encouraged me.

For one, Gettysburg is an older city that wasn't constructed with the Americans with Disabilities Act in mind. Most shops and restaurants have two stone steps leading up to narrow front doors and don't have much space between door and curb to place a ramp. Placing an accessible ramp in front of most stores would result in completely blocking the sidewalk.

Despite these natural hurdles, some businesses have gone great lengths to make their location mobility accessible. One I noticed was Noteworthy Music. In a telephone interview, owner Bob Ranalli said, “We got our ramp last October and the general consensus (from customers) is it's great. I have a sister with a disability who has a brain condition affecting her whole left side. She wears a left leg brace and needs assistance walking. Also, my dad had Lou Gehrig's disease and was disabled the last three years of his life. It was difficult for him to get in and out of my business.”

Ranalli “just last night” told his sister his store was finally ADA approved, he said. In part, Noteworthy Music has a wide-open floor plan with no aisles. Besides pleasing mobility-impaired customers, Ranalli has personally benefited from having a ramp by being able to more easily and safely move expensive sound equipment in and out the front door.

While I was in Gettysburg, the 2011 Gettysburg Visitor Guide was a helpful tool to use in determining the accessibility of shops and restaurants. (A member of my family uses a wheelchair.) The Gettysburg Convention & Visitors Bureau (GCVB) publishes the Gettysburg Visitor Guide. In a telephone interview, GCVB spokesperson Stacey Fox said, “We note the accessible businesses (in our official guide) because we get that question quite often. More and more (Gettysburg) businesses are making changes to their businesses and becoming more accessible.”

Finally, we were pleased entering the disability-friendly, 2008-built National Park Service Museum and Visitor Center in Gettysburg. The Center offers accommodations for hearing, sight, and mobility impaired visitors. The disability parking area was by far the largest I have seen at any facility.

Facebook: “Disabilities by Daniel J. Vance” [Blue Valley Sod and Palmer Bus Service made this column possible.]