ADA Guide for Small Towns

G) Parks and Recreation Programs.

A town’s recreational programs or activities, such as those offered at the town baseball or football field or at the town pool, play an important part in the life of a community. These programs, services, and activities are among those that the town should review as part of the self-evaluation to determine if any physical or policy barriers exist that may keep people with disabilities from participating. If a town decides to modify facilities to provide program accessibility and has more than one facility available (such as when several ball fields are provided) only some of the facilities may need to be accessible. However, when only some of the ball fields are accessible, the scheduling policies for their use will need to accommodate requests for accessible fields, player areas, or spectator seating (if provided). When the facilities are built or altered, they must comply with the ADA Standards, which have specific technical requirements for elements and spaces, such as accessible parking spaces, accessible routes, toilet facilities, public telephones, and spectator seating areas. For elements and spaces without specific technical standards, such as ball fields or playing areas, the town should use the Standards as a guide, providing a reasonable number, but at least one, that is accessible and providing an accessible route to the area of play and the spectator areas.

A town playground with an accessible route that provides access to a play area.