Lakewood Washington City Hall Access Problems
These images of the new Lakewood City Hall show some of the access problems I observed. The images have specific items marked, and an explanation is immediately below each image.
Comments and questions may be sent to ZIP98498@EARTHLINK.NET
IMAGE 1 : Exterior view of Lakewood City Hall from the south.
A: This is the western entrance on the south side of the building. It is equipped with push plates both inside and out that operate an electrical door opener. These push plates are plainly marked with the international handicapped access marking (wheelchair). The only way to or from ground level via this door is the concrete steps (D). Inside, this door is marked as an emergency exit. This door is the primary entrance/exit for the City Council Chambers.
B: This is the emergency exit door from the southwest stairwell. It can also server as an emergency exit from the first floor hallway. This door cannot be opened from the outside. The only way to ground level from this door is the concrete steps (D).
C: This is the main building entrance and enters to the first floor lobby. The only way to or from ground level via this door is the concrete steps (D). Inside, this door is marked as an emergency exit.
D: These are the concrete steps that are the only ground level access from the plaza on the south side of the building. These steps do not have handrails.
E: This is the main handicapped parking area for the building.
IMAGE 2: Interior of western entrance on south wall ("A" in Image 1).
A: This is the interior handicapped push plate for this door. Note international handicapped access symbol.
B: Lighted emergency exit sign above door.
C: This is the edge of the plaza along the south side of the building. From here to ground level are three concrete steps ("D" in Image 1).
IMAGE 3 : Exterior of western entrance on south wall ("A" in Image 1).
A: This is the western entrance on the south side of the building. It is equipped with push plates both inside and out that operate an electrical door opener. (See Image 2 for interior view.) These push plates are plainly marked with the international handicapped access symbol (wheelchair).
When I used this door to come out on the plaza to take pictures the door locked and would not open when the exterior push plate (B) was pressed. The only way to or from ground level via this door is the concrete steps (D). Inside, this door is marked as an emergency exit. This door is the primary entrance/exit for the City Council Chambers.
B: This is the exterior handicapped push plate for this door. Note international handicapped access symbol.
C: This is the emergency exit door from the southwest stairwell. It can also serve as an emergency exit from the first floor hallway. This door cannot be opened from the outside. The only way to ground level from this door is the concrete steps (D).
D: These are the concrete steps that are the only ground level access from the plaza on the south side of the building. These steps do not have handrails.
IMAGE 4 : Exterior view of Main Entrance from plaza ("C" in Image 1).
A: This is the main handicapped parking area for the building, at the southwest corner..
B: These are the eastern portion of the concrete steps that are the only ground level access from the plaza on the south side of the building. These steps do not have handrails.
C: This is the main building entrance and enters to the first floor lobby. The only way to or from ground level via this door is the concrete steps (B). Inside, this door is marked as an emergency exit.
IMAGE 5 : Interior view of Main Entrance ("C" in Image 1).
A: This is a lighted emergency exit sign marking an exit route from the lobby. Through these doors is another hallway and the lobby for the Municipal Courts with a door to the exterior at the far end. The exit sign for the actual exit from the building can bee seen as item B.
B: Barely visible through the doors is the exit sign above the doors at the far end of the Municipal Courts lobby. That far door exits the building and is usable by the handicapped.
C: This is a lighted emergency exit sign marking the main entry/exit doors as an emergency exit.
D: This is the main building entrance and exit from the first floor lobby. The only way to or from ground level via this door is the concrete steps ("D" in Image 1). The parking lot is clearly visible outside.
IMAGE 6 : Interior door between Council Chambers and SW exits.
A: This is the push plate for opening the door to the right. It is marked with the international handicapped access symbol. This door leads from the hallway at the rear of the Council Chambers (reached by doors "A" in Image 8, below) and to the southwest building exits. Because of the positioning of this pushplate, high on the wall in a corner behind the built-in bench shown in the image, it is difficult for those in a wheelchair to reach, and even more difficult, if not impossible, if the bench is occupied.
IMAGE 7 : Council Chambers from rear NW corner.
A: Fixed seating for approximately 140 persons. The floor is sloped to allow a good view for the audience. There are no level places on the floor to park a wheelchair next to a companion's seat. All permanent seating has non-removable armrests precluding a wheelchair user from transferring to any of the regular seats. All seats have fold-down writing surfaces.
(Visible at the left edge of the image, but unmarked, is one of the marked exit doors from this room that opens inward, against the flow of emergency egress. See Image 8, "A".)
IMAGE 8 : Council Chambers from front.
A: Marked exit doors from this room that open inward, against the flow of emergency egress. These doors lead to an interior hallway, visible through the movable glass wall. Turning left will lead one to doors that open to the outside, turning right leads to the interior door shown in Image 6, and then to the exits on the southwest of the building.
B: Fixed seating for approximately 140 persons. The floor is sloped to allow a good view for the audience. There are no level places on the floor to park a wheelchair next to a companion's seat. All permanent seating has non-removable armrests precluding a wheelchair user from transferring to any of the regular seats. All seats have fold-down writing surfaces.
This is the view from a car parked in handicapped parking at the southwest corner of the new Lakewood City Hall.
Directly ahead is a ramp from the parking lot to a handicapped entrance. It is only a small problem, but it seems that the 90 degree turn to the right to get to/from the accessible building entrance/exit exceeds the 1:48 slope allowed by the universal fire code and the ADA regulations for changes of direction. The cross slope of the approach ramp also appears to be more than the 1:48 maximum allowed.
I was not equipped to measure the slope accurately when I was last there, so I may be wrong.
To anyone who may have made it this far:
As I have casually examined only one side of the building there indeed may be other errors and problems I have not encountered. Considering the number of errors readily apparent to a non-trained observer with less than two years experience in a wheelchair, I would strongly suggest the City of Lakewood get a qualified, competent person to examine the entire building for compliance with all codes, regulations, and laws.
Additionally, the list I have provided here of non-compliant areas is not complete even for the limited area I saw.
Door opening effort, marking and signage, RCW 9.41 requirements, and other things need to be inspected and corrected by qualified persons. The city needs to find and fix these problems before an emergency "field tests" them using it's citizens.
Take care,
Tom
Progress Report
Effective date: 09FEB'02
Outline of found problems with
City response and action for each
Effective date: 23JAN'02 UPDATED: 11FEB'02
Other Comments
(From one of my limited access sites.)
(UPDATED 23JAN'02)
Marked Images
(Showing problem areas and including
explanations of each problem.)
Link to City of Lakewood official site.
