Open Forum

Hello everyone!  I am at Abraham Lincoln's "grown up" home (i.e. NOT the log cabin) where he lived for seventeen years with his wife and sons, leaving from this house in Springfield, IL to go to Washington, DC.  The house was built in 1839 but despite several remodelings and additions from the Lincolns, still retains its narrow 1839 doorways.  The doorways range in size from about 30" to 32", which does not quite fit the requirements for ADA however we have the historic house waiver so we are not widening the doorways!  Our challenge now is how do we inform our visitors in a wheelchair/scooter about the size restrictions, and how do we respectfully and discreetly measure a visitor's chair to determine if it will fit?  We have had serious damage done to the house and its original door frames from wheelchairs that are too wide and scooters that are too long and are unfortunately badly managed by the rider.  

For the record--we do have alternative methods to the tour experience including a filmed full house tour, a tour in several languages and ASL on an iPad, and a wheelchair that does fit through the openings available for transfer.

Any suggestions would be gratefully appreciated!

Susan

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Susan Haake
Curator
Lincoln Home National Historic Site
Springfield IL
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Hi Susan:

Is there signage in place?  I realize that isn't the complete solution, but some people would appreciate the information before they actually get to the door, and save you from the discussion.  My only experience with this was at a place where we didn't allow any motorized devices, which generally solved the problem for us.  You may need a more sophisticated policy.

Are you a member of the Historic House Network on Linkedin or Facebook?  You might pose your question there, for AAM Members who haven't found there way to Museum Junction yet.

--https://www.facebook.com/HistoricHouseNetwork

https://www.linkedin.com/groups/AAM-Historic-House-Network-6722716?home=&gid=6722716&trk=my_groups-tile-grp

Sorry I can't be of more help.

Sue
  -----------------------------------------
Susan Goganian
Director
Beverly Historical Society & Museum
Beverly MA
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Original Message:
Sent: 10-20-2014 04:29 PM
From: Susan Haake
Subject: Wheelchair size restrictions

Hello everyone!  I am at Abraham Lincoln's "grown up" home (i.e. NOT the log cabin) where he lived for seventeen years with his wife and sons, leaving from this house in Springfield, IL to go to Washington, DC.  The house was built in 1839 but despite several remodelings and additions from the Lincolns, still retains its narrow 1839 doorways.  The doorways range in size from about 30" to 32", which does not quite fit the requirements for ADA however we have the historic house waiver so we are not widening the doorways!  Our challenge now is how do we inform our visitors in a wheelchair/scooter about the size restrictions, and how do we respectfully and discreetly measure a visitor's chair to determine if it will fit?  We have had serious damage done to the house and its original door frames from wheelchairs that are too wide and scooters that are too long and are unfortunately badly managed by the rider.  

For the record--we do have alternative methods to the tour experience including a filmed full house tour, a tour in several languages and ASL on an iPad, and a wheelchair that does fit through the openings available for transfer.

Any suggestions would be gratefully appreciated!

Susan

-------------------------------------------
Susan Haake
Curator
Lincoln Home National Historic Site
Springfield IL
-------------------------------------------

Hi Susan,

At Fallingwater we have similar challenges based on the physical limitations of the house: door width, uneven surfaces and stairs. Here are a few ways in which we try to educate the visitor:

• We post on our website that our site has physical challenges that may impact folks that are bound to wheelchairs or have other stamina and coordination limitations.
• We post on our website the maximum width of a wheelchair in the house.
• We recommend a modified tour which has a first floor tour access and a movie of the upper floors of the house.
• We have developed protocol for guides to assist visitors with doorway access to limit damage to the house and the collection.
• We encourage folks to speak directly with our Visitor Service Rep's to ask questions and to better understand the limitations that we have in making accommodations because we are a historic site.

I would also recommend that you search other house museum websites to see how they educate their visitors. Hope you find this helpful!

Anybody else want to join-in and comment with their experiences?

ROY

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Roy Young
Curator of Education
Fallingwater, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
Mill Run PA
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Original Message:
Sent: 10-20-2014 04:29 PM
From: Susan Haake
Subject: Wheelchair size restrictions

Hello everyone!  I am at Abraham Lincoln's "grown up" home (i.e. NOT the log cabin) where he lived for seventeen years with his wife and sons, leaving from this house in Springfield, IL to go to Washington, DC.  The house was built in 1839 but despite several remodelings and additions from the Lincolns, still retains its narrow 1839 doorways.  The doorways range in size from about 30" to 32", which does not quite fit the requirements for ADA however we have the historic house waiver so we are not widening the doorways!  Our challenge now is how do we inform our visitors in a wheelchair/scooter about the size restrictions, and how do we respectfully and discreetly measure a visitor's chair to determine if it will fit?  We have had serious damage done to the house and its original door frames from wheelchairs that are too wide and scooters that are too long and are unfortunately badly managed by the rider.  

For the record--we do have alternative methods to the tour experience including a filmed full house tour, a tour in several languages and ASL on an iPad, and a wheelchair that does fit through the openings available for transfer.

Any suggestions would be gratefully appreciated!

Susan

-------------------------------------------
Susan Haake
Curator
Lincoln Home National Historic Site
Springfield IL
-------------------------------------------

The suggestions so far have been good. Also consider this as an opportunity to educate about accessibility issues in Lincoln's time. How would disabled guests get in to his house? How folks unable to walk (or with other disability issues) get around in the mid 1800s? You can also have a door-width marked or painted on a path to the house so those with wheelchairs could see if they will fit through the door. For those that don't have web access, photos or a laptop with a virtual tour might be appropriate. ------------------------------------------- Alan Goldstein Interpretive Naturalist Falls of The Ohio State Park Interpretive Center Clarksville IN -------------------------------------------

Hi Susan,
I applaud you for being sensitive to this issue with the visitor and still being willing to provide access to all audiences at your historic site.  I have a few suggestions, the first of which is to get a group (or at least a few people) of wheelchair users together to ask them these questions, especially the one about how to measure their chairs.  You could try going through your county or state office of Disability Services and seeing if they have some people you can call to come in and speak with you.

On your website and PR materials, you could include a line next to the accessibility symbol that says something like "Some of our doorways may be too narrow for people with mobility impairments.  Please call us for more information" so that you can explain that you have ways for them to see the rooms/floors via videos and a smaller wheelchair they can use.

Hope that helps.

Best -
Claudia

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Claudia Ocello
President & CEO
Museum Partners Consulting
Morristown NJ
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Original Message:
Sent: 10-20-2014 04:29 PM
From: Susan Haake
Subject: Wheelchair size restrictions

Hello everyone!  I am at Abraham Lincoln's "grown up" home (i.e. NOT the log cabin) where he lived for seventeen years with his wife and sons, leaving from this house in Springfield, IL to go to Washington, DC.  The house was built in 1839 but despite several remodelings and additions from the Lincolns, still retains its narrow 1839 doorways.  The doorways range in size from about 30" to 32", which does not quite fit the requirements for ADA however we have the historic house waiver so we are not widening the doorways!  Our challenge now is how do we inform our visitors in a wheelchair/scooter about the size restrictions, and how do we respectfully and discreetly measure a visitor's chair to determine if it will fit?  We have had serious damage done to the house and its original door frames from wheelchairs that are too wide and scooters that are too long and are unfortunately badly managed by the rider.  

For the record--we do have alternative methods to the tour experience including a filmed full house tour, a tour in several languages and ASL on an iPad, and a wheelchair that does fit through the openings available for transfer.

Any suggestions would be gratefully appreciated!

Susan

-------------------------------------------
Susan Haake
Curator
Lincoln Home National Historic Site
Springfield IL
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