New Bern city leaders focusing on handicap accessibility in city hall

Handicap accessibility has become the focus for one local government building in Eastern North Carolina.

Despite the Americans with Disability Act becoming law 28 years ago, the New Bern City Hall still has no ramp outside the building for those with disabilities to access, or an elevator inside to get to the second floor and beyond.

The current system requires handicapped community members to call a number in advance, and a chairlift will be provided to get residents up the steps. But community member Darcy Hildreth, who has a 28-year son with a disability, said this issue is as much about dignity as it is access, and her son shouldn't be denied either.

Hildreth said, "It's important to us as a family that he have equal access to things, that he be able to participate fully as an independent person. He's 28-years old and has earned the right to be independent and have access. Something as simple as access should not be denied."

Local officials say they are considering all options at this point but cost and funding is a concern. But Darcy Hildreth's son Brendon says compliance should be the main concern. He said, "Not only would I want the city to make the necessary ADA compliance updates, but I would like to see them work with people with disabilities and get their ideas about how the building can be accessible for their activities of daily living."

Brendon Hildreth isn't just working to get accessibility improved at city hall and New Bern, but Governor Roy Cooper has asked him to sit on the North Carolina Council for Developmental Disabilities. Hildreth is also the Code Director for the Accessible Icon Project in North Carolina.