MetroParks of Butler County is launching a new guide to accessibility, and cutting the ribbon on a related feature. The first universal changing table in the county will be unveiled Tuesday as the park system introduces the guide.
MetroParks spokeswoman Katie Ely-Wood says the online guide lists important details about each park:
“Things like, are the trails accessible? Are they paved? Am I going to have access to a handicapped parking spot?” she says. “Are the bathrooms suitable for me to get in and out of if I have any kind of mobility challenges?”
The guides were created with the Butler County Board of Developmental Disabilities. That cooperation led to the installation of the first universal changing table, which will be unveiled at the Voice of America Fieldhouse.
Ely-Wood says partnerships made a big difference in getting the project done. She says MetroParks started working with the Butler County Board of Developmental Disabilities to produce an accessibility guide. That led to the installation of the changing table.
“Are all parks going to be accessible for everyone? No,” she says. “But if we can make those small changes that make an impact on individual families, one family at a time, that’s a huge step in the right direction.”
The Board of Developmental Disabilities is using ARPA funds to install the one universal changing table in Voice of America Park. Patricia Dawson with the Board says the benefits go beyond people in the park system.
“And they might not be visiting the park, but they can look on that map and see that that’s available to them,” she says. “They can know, ‘OK, I can spend my time in this area around the VOA. And then if I need to use that universal changing table, if that facility is open, then I can go there and use that.’ We’re thrilled at what it’s doing for visitors to the park, but it’s also so much more than that. It’s just the community at large.”
The universal changing table will also be added to an app that shows public facilities across the country.
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