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Fix it
Fix itThere is a celebration in Prince William County this weekend marking the 18th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. What a long way we've come. What a long way we need to go.
We have been reporting on some local ADA issues in recent weeks, and the more we look into the local situation, the more discouraged we get.
It is disheartening to learn that a building that is still referred to in compliance documents as the "New Courthouse Building" right across Culpeper Street from this office, is not fully compliant, despite its relative newness and its status as a bastion of the rule of law.
It is absolutely mind-boggling to learn that the health department building has significant ADA problems, according to a county audit performed at the behest of the Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy.
We reported on needed renovations at the Marshall Community Center last week. Without repairs, an after-school program sponsored by the Equal Footing Foundation may be lost. The computers necessary to make this Computer Clubhouse a success don't co-exist very readily with walls and foundations that become porous when it rains.
That's not the half of the MCC problems.
Depending on who you ask, the Marshall Community Center is in violation of the fire code and is a disaster waiting to happen.
According to the Fauquier County Disability Services Board, the fire code requires two exits from any public building, and all fire exits must be handicap accessible. Such is not the case at the MCC.
Officials with the permitting and inspection wing of the Department of Community Development deny that there is a problem, and point to another set of code standards that they insist are the proper regulations.
The matter is confused even more by the fire code itself, which stipulates the number of fire exits that must be present according to how many people are in the building — that makes sense — but then goes further to stipulate different mandates depending on whether people are sitting or standing.
The problem with the ADA is that legislators left a loophole that, unlike so many doorways in Fauquier County, is wide enough to drive a wheelchair through: If fixing an ADA problem is financially burdensome, it can be put off almost indefinitely.
That's exactly what we've done, and it's hard to excuse.
There is no excuse for taking the same approach to fire code problems.
The MCC houses a public library and hosts a number of activities for children. County officials need to determine the building's fire code compliance once and for all.
If it is not compliant, find the money and fix it. Do it now, or close it down.
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