LTP News Sharing:
A long-anticipated renovation to our headquarters, Freedom’s Embassy, is now underway. The National Center’s Able Americans program hosted an official groundbreaking on October 2 to commemorate the occasion.
(L-R) Rachel Barkley, Dan Faoro, David Almasi, Sevda Mirali and David Ridenour
After nearly a year of negotiations, National Center COO David Almasi finally received a green light from all of the relevant Washington, D.C. government agencies to proceed with alterations to our building to make it make it more accessible for people with disabilities.
Our headquarters was built around 1880, and finding a way to make it accessible while retaining its historic beauty and meeting all of the city’s requirements wasn’t easy.
The first phase of the construction, now underway, entails excavating from the front sidewalk to the basement, erecting a retaining wall and laying down a path providing wheelchair access to our ground level.
The second phase will entail building an accessible restroom facility and kitchenette, and constructing a wheelchair-accessible, state-of-the-art television and radio studio on that level that will benefit all of our programs.
The final phase will entail installing a box lift and electronic doors in the back of our building to permit access to the main floor. Our architect’s plan is ideal, as it will allow access for those with disabilities without destroying some of the building’s most beautiful features, such as its elegant crown molding.
The building upgrade is necessary not only because it will permit Rachel Barkley — a quadriplegic who leads our Able Americans program — to work in our office and host events and coalition meetings with allied disabilities groups, but because there is currently no way for someone who uses a wheelchair to access any part of our building.
Just a few months ago, we witnessed firsthand the disappointment those with disabilities experience when they are unable to access buildings like everyone else.
In June we hosted an evening reception at our office in honor of Robert J. Smith, a long-serving senior fellow of the National Center, who had passed away a few months earlier. A close friend and colleague of R.J.’s, who’d worked with him for decades and wished to remember R.J. at this special event, wasn’t able to enter our building. He couldn’t even enter our courtyard because of its steps.
We did our best to accommodate him by asking other participants to move out to our courtyard to speak of their fondest memories of R.J. and to make toasts to him. But we felt horrible about it, and National Center President David Ridenour vowed it would never happen again.
And now, thanks to the generosity of our donors who have contributed to this project, it fortunately never will.
(L-R) David Ridenour, Dan Faoro, Rachel Barkley and David Almasi
Author: The National Center
