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SAWHORSE
Upstairs battle
Long-awaited elevator scheduled for insertion
By The Advocate Editorial Board
Wednesday, December 7, 2011 17:12
http://www.accentadvocate.com/opinion/upstairs-battle-1.2681187
It can be tough to get to the top floor of the Gym Annex Building.
The 40-year-old building is not only removed from the heart of campus, but it is the only mutli-floor building at Contra Costa College without an elevator.
For students with disabilities, this creates a major hurdle.
With the insertion of a new elevator, however, hopefully this problem will cease to exist.
Using $500,000 of the 2002 Measure A bond money, the GA Building will become ADA accessible for the first time in 2012.
The installation is planned for sometime during the spring semester, and should be completed by summer.
It is a major accessibility issue on campus finally being addressed.
For years, students have registered for classes held upstairs in GA-50, but some have never been able to even catch a peek inside the classroom because they could not climb up the stairs in the building.
This includes students registered for Health Education 120, a CSU transfer requirement.
Having an elevator should allow students access to the lecture room, but instructional assistant Richard Stollings, who works in Disabled Students Programs and Services, says it is not enough.
Having one elevator per building is great when it works, but when it is down, the buildings are inaccessible.
The Applied Arts and Liberal Arts buildings are two- and three-story buildings, respectively, with elevators.
But those elevators are unreliable and can be out of service for days. Even being inoperable for a few minutes can keep a student from making it to class.
There are enough barriers in the way of students as they get to class. Physical obstructions are easy to change to make them easier to get around. And the needs of our students with disabilities should be met more often than every 40 years.
Long-awaited elevator scheduled for insertion
By The Advocate Editorial Board
Wednesday, December 7, 2011 17:12
http://www.accentadvocate.com/opinion/upstairs-battle-1.2681187
It can be tough to get to the top floor of the Gym Annex Building.
The 40-year-old building is not only removed from the heart of campus, but it is the only mutli-floor building at Contra Costa College without an elevator.
For students with disabilities, this creates a major hurdle.
With the insertion of a new elevator, however, hopefully this problem will cease to exist.
Using $500,000 of the 2002 Measure A bond money, the GA Building will become ADA accessible for the first time in 2012.
The installation is planned for sometime during the spring semester, and should be completed by summer.
It is a major accessibility issue on campus finally being addressed.
For years, students have registered for classes held upstairs in GA-50, but some have never been able to even catch a peek inside the classroom because they could not climb up the stairs in the building.
This includes students registered for Health Education 120, a CSU transfer requirement.
Having an elevator should allow students access to the lecture room, but instructional assistant Richard Stollings, who works in Disabled Students Programs and Services, says it is not enough.
Having one elevator per building is great when it works, but when it is down, the buildings are inaccessible.
The Applied Arts and Liberal Arts buildings are two- and three-story buildings, respectively, with elevators.
But those elevators are unreliable and can be out of service for days. Even being inoperable for a few minutes can keep a student from making it to class.
There are enough barriers in the way of students as they get to class. Physical obstructions are easy to change to make them easier to get around. And the needs of our students with disabilities should be met more often than every 40 years.