CROTHERSVILLE

Several times in the past four years, Crothersville officials have talked about the town hall’s entrances not being compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The front entrance is a few feet away from East Howard Street, while the east entrance on the back side of the building at 111 E. Howard St. opens into an alleyway.

The best option may be to construct an entrance on the west side of the building.

Brad Bender with FPBH Inc. of North Vernon recently told the five members of the town council that, as of right now, the noncompliance isn’t affecting the town from applying for any type of federal funding, but there’s a possibility it could sometime in the future.

“We’ve talked about it a number of times over the years and different solutions. There’s no easy solution,” Bender said.

“But it needs to be done,” Councilman Bob Lyttle said.

The Americans with Disabilities Act, which became law in 1990, is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation and all public and private places that are open to the general public.

The purpose of the law is to make sure people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone. It guarantees equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities in public accommodations, employment, transportation, state and local government services and telecommunications.

Title II of the law requires state and local governments to give people with disabilities an equal opportunity to benefit from all of their programs, services and activities, including public education, employment, transportation, recreation, health care, social services, courts, voting and town meetings.

State and local governments are required to follow specific architectural standards in the construction and alteration of their buildings. They also must relocate programs or otherwise provide access in inaccessible older buildings and communicate effectively with people who have hearing, vision or speech disabilities.

Public entities are not required to take actions that would result in undue financial and administrative burdens. They are required to make reasonable modifications to policies, practices and procedures where necessary to avoid discrimination unless they can demonstrate that doing so would fundamentally alter the nature of the service, program or activity being provided.

The front entrance of Crothersville Town Hall is a problem because of its proximity to a street and it doesn’t have a proper door swing, Bender said.

“About the only way to correct that is with a new vestibule entirely because there’s just no room to do anything else,” he said.

The east side entrance, which the public uses to attend meetings, has threshold, slope and turning radius issues. After going through that door, there is another doorway to go through to enter the meeting room. Then to access town hall, a person would have to go through another doorway. Plus, there are chairs set up for meetings that would be in the way.

The council agreed the best option may be to add a door onto the west side of the building.

Bender said he would put together a report with estimated costs for the council to review.

The town hall has been at its current location since May 2012. In June 2011, the town purchased the building, which previously was a Methodist church annex, for $41,250. It took nearly a year to clean out and redo the building.

The town hall used to be in a building across the railroad tracks at Pennsylvania Avenue and Howard Street, but a storm damaged it in 2006.

The town then began renting a building at 117 E. Howard St. to house town hall and the police department. The police department stayed there until late 2009, when it moved to 404 Moore St.

For several years, the town council discussed either remodeling town hall, purchasing the building, moving to another location or constructing a new building.

The council wound up purchasing the church annex building and remodeling it.

Mark and Leslie Adams, owners of Adams Family Funeral Home and Crematory across from the town hall, own the building at 117 E. Howard St.