Power Grid Blog
Mark's Weekly Message
August 31, 2012 | Mark Perriello
Frederick Douglas once said, “Without a struggle, there can be no progress.”
As you know, the hotel lobbyists have been fighting tooth and nail to deny equal rights, but we have had some positive feedback from hotel owners. AAPD is happy to report that we, along with our coalition partners, NCIL, ADAPT, and NDRN are making progress in our struggle for fully accessible hotel pools thanks to the participation of people with disabilities all across the nation. Here are three examples of hotels that have agreed to install permanent lifts within the next few months after hearing from the community. Where they lead, others will follow.
The Grand Hyatt in Dallas, Texas, the Sheraton Clayton Plaza Hotel in Clayton, Missouri, and the Rochester Institute of Technology Inn & Conference Center in Rochester, New York have all given written statements that they will be installing permanent, fixed pool lifts so that all guests will have access to their facilities.
When approached by activists, one the hotels proudly reported that they had just received their new portable lift that day. After hearing that we expected more, they sent the lift back to the manufacturer and did the right thing. These are important milestones and we still have so much more to do!
If you know of a hotel that already has or plans to install a fixed lift, post it on our Facebook page. We want to reward the businesses who are doing the right things and send a message, loud and clear, to the hotel association’s lobbyists and attack dogs that they can’t amend our ADA!
For more information, check out our website!
