Adirondack tourism group works to make parks more accessible

Disability advocates assess Saranac Lake’s village park infrastructure to identify needed upgrades

By David Escobar

On a cold, misty morning at Lake Colby Beach in Saranac Lake, Nick Friedman crouched beside a cracked asphalt path, tugging a long tape measure across its uneven surface. He marked the pavement with blue chalk — the first step in a detailed assessment of accessibility at the village’s popular beachfront park.

“Uneven surfaces, a lack of direction for an accessible route, barriers to restrooms. These are the most glaring problems,” he said.

Friedman is the executive director of Accessible Adirondack Tourism, a nonprofit commissioned by the Saranac Lake Village Board to survey the accessibility of a dozen municipal parks. The goal is to identify where infrastructure falls short for people with disabilities and recommend upgrades.

“The whole point is access,” said Friedman. “And it’s not just for people in wheelchairs. It’s for little children. It’s for our aging population. It’s for the kid who sprains her ankle in soccer practice. It’s for everybody.”

Measuring access, inch by inch

The assessment follows standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Architectural Barriers Act, which require public spaces to meet minimum levels of accessibility. Turning those regulations into reality, especially in older facilities, can be tricky.

“There are lots of guidelines to go by, lots of technicalities, lots of people involved,” said Tara Gagne, a member of the survey team. “It’s very complicated. Things take a lot of time. But I’m noticing that it’s all doable.”

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At Lake Colby, the team began by measuring the slope, grade, and width of walkways that connect the parking area to the beach and bathroom facility. In some spots, ruts and gaps between the path and grassy areas make travel difficult. Except for two accessible parking spots, the beachfront park includes few accommodations for people with disabilities.

“There’s no accessible signage at all,” Friedman said. “So a person with a disability may not know where they’re supposed to go.”

Guiding through experience

After collecting measurements and snapping photos of outdoor infrastructure, the surveyors turned to the park’s bathhouse. The small facility, which is raised slightly above the sandy shoreline, can only be accessed by walking up a set of wooden steps.

That presented a challenge for Lynn DeWalt, a Keene resident who uses a wheelchair after losing his leg in a motorcycle accident two years ago. To reach the building, he had to switch to a forearm crutch and carefully climb the steps before transferring back into his wheelchair inside.

“I’m fortunate enough to get out of the wheelchair,” he said. “How would someone who is wheelchair-bound get up into the bathroom in the first place?”

Once inside, DeWalt wheeled through the narrow hallways to test the spacing around stalls and showers. While some layout features met accessibility standards, others were tight or awkwardly configured. He said a few small changes to the bathroom’s configuration could significantly improve the user experience.

“Before the accident, I didn’t think much about these types of issues,” he said. “Living it really opened my eyes. So I wanted to raise awareness. Being able to help, even in this small capacity of coming out and helping with the assessments, that’s really important to me.”

The accessibility survey of Saranac Lake’s municipal parks is underway at the same time as the village moves forward with a wayfinding project to improve access along the downtown Riverwalk. Katrina Glynn, the village’s community development director, said Friedman’s surveying crew will help the village identify where future investments in accessible infrastructure should go.

“At this point, it seems that everything we’re doing is being looked at through the lens of accessibility,” she said. “We want to make sure that we are a place that people want to move to, and they have options. It’s important for the people that live here. It’s important for tourism.”

Inside the bathroom, Friedman called out measurements — door widths, sink heights, stall dimensions — that Gagne jotted into a notebook. However, Friedman said data alone can only reveal part of the picture.

“We can provide measurements, we can provide photos,” Friedman said. “But we have actual people who will benefit from the remediation efforts here working with us.”

Based on the team’s assessment at Lake Colby, Friedman plans to recommend resurfacing the park’s walkways and building a deck with a gently sloped ramp that wraps around the bathhouse. He acknowledged upgrades could be expensive but said a few simple upgrades would be more feasible than a full rebuild.

“Remediation is a lot less expensive than reconstruction,” said Friedman. “And bearing that in mind, that’s the approach we’re taking here. It’s really up to the village to decide, ultimately, what’s best for the people of the village. We’re providing them with the opportunity to make an informed choice.”

Over the coming weeks, the team will continue visiting parks around the village, collecting data and testing infrastructure. Once the assessments are complete, they will present their findings and a formal set of recommendations to the Saranac Lake Village Board.

David Escobar is a Report For America Corps Member. He reports on diversity issues in the Adirondacks through a partnership between North Country Public Radio and Adirondack Explorer.