By Chris Frost
EAGLE TIMES NEWS EDITOR
CLAREMONT, N.H. — During the public forum at Wednesday night’s meeting of the Claremont City Council, Ward 1 resident Robin Hood expressed disappointment over a lack of handicap access at the Claremont Opera House. She said she emailed Maintenance Supervisor William Willette about the lack of a safe handicapped entrance to the building, where the City Council also meets.
“I have been begging the council to get safe access to this building for over a year,” she said. “Now, it seems that Claremont bought a temporary ramp that cannot be used in the fashion the city manager described to me at a previous council meeting.”
Hood said City Manager Yoshi Manale told her the ramp would erected at the main entrance for Opera House shows and would be removed when not needed.
“Mr. Willette’s emails seem to imply the ramp cannot be used in this fashion and thus, I believe I have been misled. How sad I feel for all handicapped and elderly people in this city that it does not have good, handicapped entrances at City Hall/Opera House. Money for such projects has been voted down and cut.”
She said Claremont has money for Pleasant Street, which she said is not handicap-friendly. She claimed the city treats its elderly and handicapped like second-class citizens. “It’s so wrong. These people cannot come to these meetings because it is so difficult to get in here. How can any of you think this is right?”
She said there will not be handicapped access to see a popular comedian at the Claremont Opera House.
“An alternate method to get [my mother] into this show has been recommended but not fully explained to me and it isn’t confirmed that an alternate method can be used,” she said. “We may be out the money on tickets because my husband will not, and I will not, go to the show without my mom.”
She said that, during the last year, the City has “patted me on the head and told me it’s being fixed. Really, it is not.”
Manale agreed with Hood, saying the ramp’s angle at the main entrance would not comply with ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) standards.
“We determined the only way we could get an ADA-compliant ramp was for the side and that’s where they’re ordering it. If we put it out here (at the entrance), the ramp would have gone back into the sidewalk, past the doorway.”
Manale said the side access will make it easier for Hood’s mother and anyone handicapped to go straight into the Opera House, where the elevator is located. “We did order it and, you know, we’re waiting for it. When it does get here, it will be installed on the side.”
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