To:
Boothbay Harbor Region Chamber of Commerce
P.O. Box 356
Boothbay Harbor, ME 04538

I spent the better part of this week in your quaint town, spending my nights on Atlantic Ave., and often using the delightful footbridge to go to the shopping district. I use a power wheelchair, so my perspective was different from that of many of your visitors, and I was greeted courteously by your business people, who made every effort to accommodate me. However, I did have a number of experiences where my entrance was barred as completely as though there were an armed guard. On one occasion, I just barely avoided a possibly fatal accident for the lack of a sign.

I went down Commercial Street, and somewhere in the vicinity of and across the street from “At-the-Beach Gallery” I followed the narrow sidewalk around a corner. The sidewalk was elevated more than 2 feet above the road, so I was a bit nervous to begin with. As I rounded the corner, from my lower perspective, I could not see that the sidewalk turned into a flight of stairs until I was almost upon them. The steps were steep and on a hill that continued beyond them at the bottom. A fall would have involved a roll with a 200 pound chair on top of me, and would have ended far beyond the foot of the stairs. If anyone had been in the way, there would be nothing I could do but tumble over them like an avalanche. I called back to my friends who followed me and they almost fell over me. Shaking from the near-miss, I then had to back up. and around the same walkway to the intersection, the one with Warf Street, if I’m not mistaken. Power wheelchairs are not designed for backing up, and it was rather like backing up with a wheelbarrow. I kept bumping into the building to avoid the more dangerous slip off the sidewalk and 2-foot plus drop to the road. Fortunately, I made it. A simple sign could have avoided a near-disaster. Good access where access is tough is all about honest communication.

Another place that was problematic was the ramp that went down to Pier One from the South West. It was very steep, and had a beveled two by six making an abrupt drop at the bottom. I knew from experience that, with the anti-tip devices protruding from the back of my chair, had I tried the trip, I would have been hung up at the bottom requiring getting out of the chair and having two very burly people extricating the chair by lifting it up and off. I found another access to the Pier One area avoiding the stairs, but discovered that all (or nearly all) of the shops had a single step that might as well have been a stone wall to bar my access to them. Having done carpentry earlier in my life, I know that small ramps could have been built for a very modest sum to remedy the problem. Also, people with bifocals also trip over single steps and other irregularities such as the drop-off at the end of the ramp. If you need to think money, think of insurance claims and insurance rates. I found similar barriers all over town. Even your brand new Botanical Gardens had no parking near the entrance to the gardens. Deep “natural areas” forced people to wind back and forth around the lot to go back to the main road leading to the entrance. At St. Andrews-by-the-Sea, New Brunswick, you can park close to their famous gardens, and roll or park close. Then a Scottsman with kilt-and-brogue driving a golf cart would give you a personalized tour. Universal access enriches all of our lives. What about the child who can’t go to the gardens with grannie and grampie? What about the teen whose mother has MS?

Another subject that no one likes to speak of in polite company, yet is the most significant factor limiting the travel of people with disabilities, is access to bathrooms. None of the two public rest rooms I used had grab bars. The hotel with the best food, universal access to good views and the kindest wait staff did have an accessible bathroom. However, the hotel with the dining hall with the best views provided only to people in “proper attire” had neither grab bars, good food nor or friendly wait staff. After returning home, I am in tremendous pain. The simple reason is that I had to get on and off inaccessible toilets. For me it is a very painful “inconvenience.” For many others, it means they can go only so far as their bladders can. The State Parks can do it, the Maine Turnpike can do it, why not Boothbay Harbor?

As I looked around me these clear September days, I saw that most of the visitors at this time of the year were over 60 years old and a significant number moved painfully with or without mobility aides. A large number of these people are the leading edge of the baby boomers that are going to be wanting the same freedom of access that they have had all of their lives. Since we are living longer and have been encouraged to be athletic, many more of us are going to require mobility devices for many years during a time when we will still enjoy relative good health. We want to see the world. I planned boat access for my elderly mother, and I am certain that there are ways to get people on your sight seeing tours. Yankee ingenuity, rather than money, is often all it takes. This is not about fixing a problem with money, it’s about using our imaginations to create an environment that welcomes everyone, an environment that is as diverse and as wonderful as the world God made.

What I am speaking of is actually sound business practice. People often say, “But we never see anyone in a wheelchair!” If a person with a disability knows there is nowhere they can go, they don’t leave their homes. As soon as the access is available, we come out in droves! Check out WalMart! There is a hotel and conference center on the main street of Freeport. It has about 25 handicapped parking spaces and nearly all of them were filled by people with placards and the appropriate license plates. The entire premises is accessible with excellent signage, and staff who anticipate our needs. They remove a seat from a table before we get there (or ask where we would like to sit), and assist us at the salad bar, which is too high to reach without decorating ourselves with vinegarette! It was a busy place, and it appeared that the “payback” far exceeded the output. Good access is sound business practice as well. What no one wants to think about is that, in all likelihood, we or someone we love will all experience some sort of disability in our lifetimes. Please look toward making Boothbay Harbor a place that welcomes all of its guests.

Thank you.
Sincerely,

Barbara K. Meldrum

cc: www.abilitymaine.org

091806