Ramp to Naperville city hall first on accessibility upgrades list

The city of Naperville plans to make $2.5 million of accessibility improvements to 22 municipal buildings under a new facilities plan approved Tuesday.

The plan will help the city gradually come into compliance with provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act updated in 2010. There's no set timetable to accomplish all of the items in the 226-page plan, but City Manager Doug Krieger said the city will tackle first the projects that can have the biggest positive effect on building access and use for people with disabilities.

One such high-priority project is replacing the ramp to the main entrance of the municipal center at 400 S. Eagle St. later this year for roughly $450,000.

Krieger said the L-shaped ramp needs a five-foot circular area at the corner instead of what it has now, which is a tight, angular turning radius. Tim Dumler, chairman of the city's advisory commission on disabilities who is legally blind, said it makes sense for ramp improvements to be one of the top priorities.

"The people that do use it realize it's too steep," Dumler said. "It needs improvements."

Many elements of the plan call for small changes, such as securing rugs to floors near building entrances to prevent tripping hazards, moving grab rails in bathrooms so they're appropriately placed to help people who use wheelchairs or adjusting settings of automatic doors.

"I think as a society we've realized there's more to it than just putting in a ramp," Dumler said.

Technological advances since the city last updated its Americans with Disabilities Act facilities plan in 1992 have made such improvements easier and more beneficial to people like Dumler who "navigate our city and live a normal life with a challenge," he said.

While the plan approved Tuesday calls for a long list of upgrades, city staff members said that's to be expected because all but two of the city's 22 buildings were built before the latest accessibility standards were established.