Grace Episcopal Church, Jamestown, ND

On a fall day Zach and John ventured out into the sprinkling rain to check out Grace Episcopal Church in Jamestown, North Dakota, looking at wheelchair accessibility. Father Kevin Goodrich met us at the door and explained that the Episcopal Church often serves as a bridge between the Catholic Church and Protestant churches. It is a good denomination to consider for families where one of the parents is Catholic and the other is not.

Father Kevin was pleased to show us around this wonderful church building, basically all on one level with easy wheelchair access on the southwest side. One of the patrons of the church is a wheelchair user and has provided much input into accessibility accommodations.

The church building was built in the early 1880's and was modeled after a Gothic style church in Medway, Mass., a church which had been modeled after an Anglican Church in Medway, England. Fargo architect George Hancock, designed the building. The church is built of native fieldstone.

The ramp and automatic door on the west end of the south side brings this building into the 21st Century. For someone in a wheelchair looking for a church to make them feel right at home, they need look no further.

Accessibility Highlights:

* Ramp & automatic door on SE corner of the building.

* All on one level.

* Regular wheelchair-using church member promotes accessibility improvements.

Photos by Zach & John

United Presbyterian Church

Zach and John pulled up to the United Presbyterian Church in Jamestown, ND on a rainy morning in early October. We came to check out the wheelchair accessibility in this beautiful vintage building and meet with Pastor David Thompson. We were already impressed by Pastor Thompson's quick response to our email requesting a visit. Not every church gets right back to us when we tell them we want to come and check out their wheelchair facilities. But then not every church has such great accomodations in place.

Pulling in to the parking lot on the north side, we noted the glass doors with an automatic door opener as promised by the Pastor. The door button did not work so we had a bit of a struggle getting in through the door, then a quick left to the elevator to take us up to the second floor where the offices are located. We met Pastor Thompson and he was aware of the automatic door button being out of order and assured us it was soon to be fixed. He shared some background history of the church and his joy in serving there for thirteen years. He then showed us around the building poiting out the accomodations for wheelchair users.

The elevator access is very impressive. It stops at five different levels, two in the basement, the ground floor, the offices level, and another level upstairs. The only area in the church not accessible by wheelchair is the choir loft. The two levels in the basement allow you to exit on two different floor levels depending on which elevator door you exit.

The church boasts a large fellowship area with chairs and round tables. There is also a large room with couches and lounge chairs for meeting in a more relaxed setting. We were pleased to hear that a wheel chair user attends worship regularly and that students in wheelchairs from the nearby middle school do service work in the church.

The mission: The United Presbyterian Church of Jamestown is a Christ-center Bible-based community drawn together to worship God, to learn about the saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and to celebrate the work of the Holy Spirit as we share the Good News.

The worship service is at 10:30 am from the Sunday after Labor Day to the Sunday prior to the Memorial Day weekend. Sunday school classes for all ages are at 9:00 am. During the summer months worship is at 9:30 am.

Their web site is http://www.upcjamestown.org/

Review by John

Photos by Zach and John

Stutsman County Museum has Elevator, Stair Lifts

The Stutsman County Memorial Museum in Jamestown, ND, USA is a lot like many museums in the midwest United States, except that this one is handicapped accessible! With an outside elevator on the east side of the building and stair lifts inside, you can get to the area of the museum you want if you are willing plan ahead.

The museum is located at 231 3rd Avenue SE and is open from June - September.

The outside elevator must be opened and operated by museum staff so wheelchair users will need to call ahead or have someone along who can climb stairs to enter the museum on the west side and alert staff that you are needing their assistance around back. The elevator will accommodate 500 pounds.

Once inside the building from the elevator you will find yourself on the 1st floor.

There is enough to see on the 1st floor to make the visit worthwhile but, should you wish to go upstairs a floor or two or downstairs a floor, you will want to ride on the stair lifts and may need assistance transferring from your wheelchair to the lifts. You may also want to bring along a basic folding wheelchair to use on the other floors if your chair is difficult for someone to move up and down the stairs. The hostess shared that the museum hopes to eventually have wheelchairs in place on each floor. There are a few narrow areas on the 1st floor that we encountered but we were able to navigate pretty much everywhere we wanted to go.

The museum is free but there is a place on the 1st floor to sign in and make a donation if you have the funds. The house was originally a mansion built for George Lutz (see photo above) in 1907. Lutz was a lumberyard owner. The house had steam heat in the early 1900's from a steam plant that supplied steam for much of the uptown area.

The interior photos above were all taken on the main floor. Soon, we hope to return with an extra wheelchair and continue our exploration of the museum.

Photos by Zach & John