A long and winding road that leads to the back door of the old library is one of the three options that the Old Library Access Committee is considering to provide an accessible route into the building. The group, which has met twice so far, is also investigating the feasibility and cost of an enclosed lift that could be built next to the stairs to the main door. A third option is a metal ramp from Fairbank Street to the main entrance, a solution that was briefly considered when Town Hall employees were about to begin their temporary stay in the building. The committee will report back to the Board of Selectmen when it has information regarding the feasibility and cost of all three options.
In February, the Board of Selectmen asked LLB Architects to identify what changes would be needed to make the building wheelchair accessible. As a guideline, LLB Architect Brian Valentine used a 2014 letter from the Massachusetts Office on Disability that identified four barriers in the old library: There is no accessible route to either the main or basement entrance, the accessible parking space is not wide enough, and both the main door and the basement door are too heavy and do not have sufficient maneuvering space. Valentine’s report confirmed these four barriers and included recommendations for each in his report, which the committee is using as a guide for its investigation.
Acessible space already planned
Town Administrator Tim Bragan said that the town’s Department of Public Works will create a new accessible space on the north side of the parking area in front of the building. The existing space, which is three feet narrower than Architectural Access Board (AAB) regulations, will lose its accessible designation. The work is scheduled to be done later this spring when the DPW does line painting on town roads.
The lift option
Valentine’s report contained two options for a route into the building. One is an exterior enclosed lift, which would be located to the left of the existing stairs to the main entrance. This option would require a new opening through the existing exterior wall. Vertex, the project manager for the Town Hall renovation project, provided the committee with an estimate for the lift described by Valentine. The estimated cost of construction alone was $138,000; with fees and contingencies, the estimate was $215,000.
The long-path option
Valentine’s second option for building access was to rework the existing path to the basement door to stay within the maximum slope for a ramp, defined in AAB regulations as 8.3 percent. Committee member Wendy Cote-Magan drew up a plan that extends the path so that the slope would be gradual enough to meet the AAB slope regulation for a walkway, which is 5 percent. Although the regulation slope of a walkway is lower than that of a ramp, a walkway does not require landings or handrails. The proposed walkway would start at the new accesible parking space on Fairbank Street, continue to Old Littleton Road, and gradually slope down to the basement door. An automatic door opener would be installed to remove the door weight and maneuverability barriers. The feasibility of the walkway plan will be examined over the next few weeks by engineers and possibly surveyors, who may need to check property lines.
The metal ramp option
The cost of the metal ramp, which would run from Fairbank Street, over the stairs, and up to the interior door at the main entrance, was $17,000 when it was priced last spring, according to Bragan. Oddly, renting the ramp for a year would cost $2,000 more, because the rental company would have to disassemble the ramp and take it away. The ramp would be required to have multiple landings because of the distance from the street to the door, and the only route to the main entrance would be via the ramp. The exterior door would have to be removed, and an automatic door opener would be installed at the interior door.
Although the elevator and bathrooms in the building may not be compliant with current AAB regulations, they were compliant in 1983, the last time a major renovation was done on the building. As a result, there is no legal need to make those elements compliant. But if renovations to the building exceed 30 percent of its appraised value, the entire building would need to be made fully compliant. The committee is hoping to avoid that. If Vertex’s estimate of the lift is accurate, installation of the lift alone would trigger compliance. Exterior accessibility needs to be provided because the ramp to the basement door was not AAB compliant in 1983 and is still not compliant, presenting a possible liability to the town.
