Our local art gallery recently moved to a site in the downtown area. They moved into a vacant store that had been designed by the architect George Nelson. The building contains a mezzanine. There is an exhibit on the mezzanine. The second level is reached by climbing stairs.
BARRIER FREE DESIGN
Barrier Free Design, a special part of the building codes, has been public policy in Michigan since 1966. It is intended to assure that public facilities and facilities used by the public are accessible to and usable by all citizens, including elderly persons, wheelchair users and individuals with permanent or temporary conditions that reduce coordination or mobility or make walking difficult or insecure.
Hmmm.
I asked about the accessibility issue when the Gallery moved into the building in December. (I was quite amazed that they would put an exhibit on the mezzanine. The store that had been there before had blocked that area off to the public.) I was assured that they were working on getting the funding for an elevator.
Today I stopped by to browse, and one of the volunteers asked if I had seen the exhibit on the second floor. I had to be truthful (didn't I?) and said, "I'm sorry, I'm boycotting the mezzanine until the elevator is installed."
That volunteer seemed to understand, but another volunteer had to pipe in. "Would you rather we hadn't opened here at all?"
*sigh* "No, I would prefer that the exhibits were held on the first floor. Art should be accessible to everyone." Obviously I wasn't boycotting the first floor, as I was strolling around viewing the works. If I had really wanted to make an issue, I would have been picketing outside the front door.
Oh wait, maybe that's what I should do next.