The widely recognized symbol for disability access – a figure in a wheelchair – was given the latest look Tuesday in Durango School District 9-R parking lots.
Freshmen taking English with Jennifer Johnson at Durango High School began early in the morning to replace the static wheelchair figure with a more energetic-looking figure now appearing on wheelchair logos across the country.
“We researched disability issues in the context of social justice,” Johnson said. “As part of their project, they did an ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) audit downtown to see if doors were wide enough for wheelchairs or if bathrooms had accommodations for wheelchairs.”
Teagan Garand, the daughter of Leo and Krista Garand, said the disabilities project began with the query from the Bible’s “Am I my brother’s keeper?” in the Book of Genesis.
“We put it in the context of disabilities by asking, ‘Are we responsible for others?’” Garand said. “We decided that we aren’t responsible but that we can help.”
The new wheelchair logo, which depicts a figure in motion instead of the figure at rest, is a way of helping, Garand said.
Julie Popp, the spokeswoman for 9-R who represents the school district on the city of Durango’s Multi-Modal Advisory Board, said city officials have expressed interest in repainting their parking-lot logos.
No one from the city of Durango was available Tuesday for comment.
Rachael Stafford, director of the ADA regional center in Colorado Springs, 1 of 10 nationally, within the Department of Health and Human Services, said wheelchair access always is an issue.
Difficulty with mobility is probably the most obvious disability, but it’s not the only one, Stafford said. Frequently overlooked is the need to accommodate people with hearing loss, low vision or blindness and access to public transportation.
Stafford is in Atlanta at a four-day ADA symposium that wraps up Wednesday. She is leading a discussion of challenges and issues – and a drill – on emergency evacuation of people with disabilities.
The ADA marks its 25th anniversary this year.
In Durango, the dozen DHS students repainting the ADA logos in school parking lots had their work cut out for them. They had about 15 logos to repaint at Riverview, Needham and Park elementary schools, Durango and Big Picture high schools and the district office. They were relieved in the afternoon by another group of Johnson’s students.
The logos were swept clean of debris to await the application of the background in blue paint. The quick-drying paint was ready for the wheelchair figure in white paint in about 15 minutes.
The wheelchair stencil was loaned by Community Connections, which will make it available to anyone free of charge, Johnson said.
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the standard wheelchair logo must appear in signs on posts, but there is leeway in designing a parking-lot logo.
daler@durangoherald.com
