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11:17 AM EDT on Friday, September 10, 2004
Mary Nash uses a wheelchair, which means at least for now, she'll never
get to shop in General Eccentric. The stairs to this ladies boutique on
Bardstown Road are standing in her way.
“We haven't figured out how to levitate,” she says. “I am waiting for
that day.”
This store is one of three named in a federal lawsuit for being
inaccessible. Store owner Kristin David told WHAS11 News she wanted to
see the suit before commenting.
“The law has been on the books for 14 years and people are ignoring it,”
Nash says.
The law to which she refers is the ADA, or Americans with Disabilities
Act.
“I don't think there is a rational person alive that would tell you
whether a camera is on them or not, that would tell you they would not
support accessibility,” says Greg Guelda, who owns Runako Gallery,
another businesses named in the lawsuit.
“This building is roughly 80 years old. If it was easily done, I think
it would be great.”
Guelda figures he would have to put in 70 feet of ramp and rip out his
storefront to comply -- modifications he figures would simply be cost
prohibitive.
“I will close the business,” he says. “I am a small company.”
But Will Driscoll, the attorney filing the lawsuit, says Guelda's
business and the others were carefully selected, based on limited
financial burden and ease of compliance.
“This is a civil rights case. Congress intended to change the whole
country and make all public buildings accessible to those that use
wheelchairs,” says Driscoll. “And 12 years later, the only enforcement
we are seeing is through these private suits.”
Driscoll says he's working on the cases pro bono, and they are having an
effect. Three out five filed a few weeks ago have already been remedied
with owners making modifications. Some, like an Indian restaurant also
on Bardstown, voluntarily agreed to put in a ramp. The third business
named in the latest lawsuit is Dugan Insurance, also on Bardstown Road.
The owner did not return our call.
As for Mary Nash, she only wants what most of us with no mobility
problems never think about: coming in through the front door not too far
into the distant future.
“Our point is to leave a legacy of accessible businesses in Louisville.”
Web story produced by Jay Ditzer.
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