While the Americans with Disabilities Act paved the way for access to many public venues, one sector that the law had earlier failed to address was for public access pools and spas in hotels and motels. That is, until just recently when a January 31st deadline mandated the installation of lifts or sloped entries for disabled persons.
While the modifications ensure that disabled persons will be able to utilize swimming pools, property owners are scrambling to install the lifts which run between $3,500 to $6,500 plus installation costs. The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports that Elite Hospitality in Ormond Beach, Florida, installed lifts at 11 of their hotels which ran $9,000 apiece. They even installed multiple lifts since some of their properties have both indoor and outdoor pools as well as hot tubs.
Resort owners who fail to make the mandated modifications would face stiff penalties should the violation be verified. There is a civil fine of $55,000 for the first report which can go as high as $110,000 should the property remain non-compliant with the law.
While the new mandate presents a challenge to some, it is most certainly a welcome addition to those who need it the most like Jacksonville, Florida resident Patricia Scott. Scott has been wheelchair-bound from a painful back injury since 2006 and is especially appreciative of the new law. As she states to First Coast News, “it’s not much fun at all when other people are swimming and enjoying their lives, and I have to just sit and do nothing and watch other people enjoy their activities.” Michael Porter, president of the Handicapped Adults of Volusia County agrees, stating how the disabled could only sit out and enviously watch everyone else enjoy the pools an d spas from the sidelines.
Access Advocates can help ensure compliance with current ADA mandates. Contact us now if you know of a facility not in compliance.
Image courtesy of Flickr, Travis S.