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Accessibility can’t be taken for granted
Published November 12, 2009
A weekend beach outing with the family, an afternoon round of golf with friends. Most folks don’t give these activities another thought beyond planning and enjoying them.
But Surfside Beach and The Wilderness golf course in Lake Jackson have taken steps to help ensure that those with physical handicaps also can take advantage of the pleasures they have to offer.
The Wilderness has come up with a medical flag plan, which lets golfers with disabilities get closer to the putting greens. Three square, blue and white-checkered banners — which will hang from their golf carts — are available per day.
The program begins this weekend for a three-month trial run in which Wilderness staff and city officials will monitor the additional wear and tear on the course before deciding whether the program can be made permanent, said Councilman Gerald Roznovsky, who was part of the team that came up with the plan.
The Wilderness, as directed by federal law, already has on hand an $8,000 cart that enables golfers to strike the ball from a swivel seat.
Improved access also is getting a boost at the beach. The Texas General Land Office recently donated a $2,000 amphibious wheelchair to Surfside Beach, and the village will lend it out to visitors with handicaps.
The distinctive-looking Mobi-Chair is fitted with large wheels to move easily through sand and features floatation armrests.
“It looks like it would be pretty fun and provide a new experience that they might have been missing out on,” said Surfside Mayor Larry Davison, whose village requested financial help from the state earlier this year.
The Mobi-Chair results from Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson’s goal of making Texas beaches accessible to everyone. In September, the state land office donated four of the chairs to South Padre Island.
It’s also a gratifying resolution to a situation that arose last year when Beverly Bisso sought permission for her disabled son to drive a golf cart on the sand. Surfside briefly granted that permission, then revoked it. Officials later allowed golf carts access to certain parts of the sand, and the situation ultimately helped lead to a state House bill authorizing the use of golf carts on the beach by the disabled.
Anyone who’s ever griped about the rules that require wheelchair ramps, restroom railings and other conveniences in public locations is likely a person who’s never had to navigate the obstacles that loom at every turn for the handicapped.
All those involved with The Wilderness program and Surfside’s amphibious wheelchair — from Jerry Patterson on down to area officials — deserve praise, not just from the handicapped people they’ve helped, but from all those with a sense of fair play and decency. Hopefully, these moves will inspire innovations at other area locations as well.
Today’s editorial was written by Glenn Krampota, Brazos Living editor of The Facts.
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