Local News - July 2002

Walter Mitchell: Courthouse lacks safe handicapped parking

By ANDIE LEATHERMAN, LTN Staff Writer

July 1, 2002 - Before Walter Mitchell, 77, was forced to use a wheelchair, he gave little thought to getting to the county’s courthouse. Today, the trip is tough.

Mitchell has used a wheelchair and walker since complications of diabetes caused amputation of his left leg at the knee in December.

In June, Mitchell needed to visit the county tax office on the courthouse’s first floor. That was when he and son-in-law, Bill Maynor, realized they had problems. The courthouse, located inside a two-lane traffic circle, has no nearby handicapped parking spaces.

The closest parking spots designated for handicapped individuals are across two lanes of traffic, at the side of the Citizens Center.

Mitchell was able to solve his access problem when Maynor parked their vehicle on the courtsquare in a space in front of City Lunch.

But he would have had difficulty crossing the traffic circle and rolling onto the courtsquare without Maynor’s assistance.

Mitchell would like to see handicap parking spaces next to the courthouse.

“We don’t go to the courthouse to see how pretty it looks, we go for business,” he said.

County Manager Stan Kiser admits it’s a problem. He called it a “huge inconvenience.”

“The building was built in the 1920s,” Kiser said. “You get into that with any older building.”

A driveway runs across the north side of the courthouse. The driveway was created in the mid-1990s for police bringing suspects to the magistrates office and to court. Because the driveway has no actual parking spaces, none specifically designated for handicapped individuals are required, Kiser said.

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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