Weighing the alternative to an elevator (Speculation)

ONE OF THE many reasons to provide wheelchair access to the basement is to achieve Mishkon’s own renovation priorities. Those priorities include the installation of proper HVAC systems in the basement (Social Hall and kitchen). It appears that according to the state building code’s Section 11B-202.4 (quite apart from the ADA), we will not be allowed to even start those projects unless we can show how someone in a wheelchair can travel to and from the basement.  

In order to provide such access, it appears that Mishkon has two options: 

• spend roughly $200K for an inclined platform lift in the east stairwell (as described here), or 
• spend roughly $400K for a small elevator (as discussed here and here).

Below the jump, this post briefly discusses the trade-offs involved in that big decision.

Wheelchair access to basement via the eastern stairwell (Speculation)

BEFORE WE COMMIT to a small elevator (or not), let’s consider one other way for a wheelchair user to get to the basement level: via the east stairwell that runs between the sanctuary building and the play yard. 

Few members even know of this stairwell’s existence, because Mishkon has long treated it as an emergency-only exit. It is located outdoors yet is covered by a shed roof and shielded from the play yard by opaque wooden fencing. 

For wheelchair access, when compared to the more familiar west (Main Street) stairwell, this east stairwell has two advantages: 

1. it offers a straight and uninterrupted route between ground level and the basement level; and 
2. its ground-level entry point would be close to the Hampton Drive street-level gate, and next to the planned ADA-accessible ramp into the sanctuary—meaning that someone who arrives in a wheelchair would already be in the vicinity. 

Could an inclined platform lift run along a track mounted in this stairwell?

Below the jump, this post explores the feasibility of that option for improved accessibility. It concludes with a ballpark cost estimate.…

What happened to the stairwell lift that we used to have? (Condition Report)

LAST YEAR, Fleming arranged to have our non-working stairwell lift removed and scrapped. Which raises the question as to what exactly had once been there, and what went wrong. 

Below the jump, I report on what I have recently learned from modest exploration and inquiry.…