On August 8, 2008 Zach made his initial visit to review the wheel chair accommodations at McElroy Park. The weather was cloudy and rain was on the way, but the cool weather was great for checking out the Park, and the Park was a delight for our wheelchair using explorer. Along on the trip were Susie, Zach's nurse and John, Zach's outreach staff.
Driving into the Park from busy 10th avenue south is like entering a portal into another world. The park is gorgeous with its many shade trees and well-kept lawn. The city has done a great job of providing handicapped parking and wheelchair accessible restrooms.
Looking for a nice picnic spot to bring all of your friends? There is a great shelter on the east side with sidewalk access and lots of room. You will want to reserve the site in advance. It's shelter number 79 but they know it in the Jamestown Parks and Recreation Office (701-252-3982) as the Sertoma Shelter.
Nearby there are some handicapped swings which secure the swinger in for a safe ride and even a wheelchair swing, though it was a bit narrow for Zach's wheelchair. It is clear that the city has made a concerted effort to make this park inviting to handicapped individuals.
We stopped in the skateboard court on the north end. Zach tried out one small ramp leading up to a raised platform but there were three kids on bikes who gave us a demonstration of what they come to the court for, sailing off of ramps and reflecting off of inclines around the court. We found out later that bicycles are not allowed in the skateboard court.
North of the bike and skateboard court is Jack Brown Stadium, the field where legion and Babe Ruth baseball is played. The stadium was open on this weekday afternoon with some people doing maintenance in the outfield, so we went in to check out the facilities and research possibility of attending a game sometime. There were a number of ground-level areas for watching the game along the right field side. The restrooms on the left field side were accessible for wheel chairs as well. Looks like a good place to take in a ball game.
Accessibility highlights:
* Several handicapped parking spots.
* Great sidewalk access to picnic areas.
* Wheelchair accessible restrooms on the north and south ends.
* Handicapped swings in the SE section.
Overall, a wonderful place to go in a wheelchair!!
-John Andrus
Photos by Zach
1 comment:
What a fun recap of our day that day! You are doing a great job Zach (and John), and I've enjoyed your blogs so far. Looking forward to the next one!
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