Greenwich rolls out a beach welcome mat for those with disabilities

Greenwich residents Anne Hotchkiss and Angelo Arista, 5, use the new ADA accessible ramp on the Greenwich Point Park beach in Old Greenwich on Wednesday. Greenwich residents Anne Hotchkiss and Angelo Arista, 5, use the new ADA accessible ramp on the Greenwich Point Park beach in Old Greenwich on Wednesday. Photo: Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media Buy photo Photo: Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close Greenwich rolls out a beach welcome mat for those with disabilities 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

GREENWICH — Anne Hotchkiss’ hair flowed with the wind as she rolled by a crowd of clapping onlookers in her black wheelchair.

“No speeding,” one man yelled as Hotchkiss confidently rode by.

“Did you bring the champagne,” another woman asked, as Hotchkiss approached the end of her demonstration.

About a dozen people gathered at Greenwich Point on Wednesday morning as the town rolled out a new 6-foot-wide vinyl mat that runs along the sand and up to the high tide line, providing improved beach access to people living with disabilities.

The mat was created by AccessRec, an organization that helps expand accessibility at beaches and other recreational community spaces. It has long spike-like features that run underneath it, which dig into the sand and keep the mat from shifting during use.

It’s the only mat of its kind at Greenwich Point. A similar but older mat at Byram Beach stops short of the water. “It really doesn’t take you down to the waterline the same way that we have accomplished here,” said Alan Gunzburg, secretary of the Lions Club of Greenwich, an international service organization dedicated to helping the blind and visually impaired.

The new fixture at Greenwich Point is a small but symbolic and welcoming gesture to people with mobility issues, according to their friends, families and other attendees.

“My committee felt that people needed access to the water, which we don’t have in this town,” said Gunzburg. “Communities all over the country use these mats. It allows people with disabilities access to the water, which they’re denied, without access to a device like this. So, you leave a portion of the population off to the side that can’t take part in a park, which is what a community is all about.”

The First Selectman’s Advisory Committee for People with Disabilities, a town group researching, educating and providing information about issues concerning people with disabilities, determined there was a lack of accessibility to beaches in town.

The group, made up of police officers, parks department employees, the town’s Americans With Disabilities Act coordinator and more, decided three months ago to raise funds to purchase the $6,000 mat. Gunzburg, who was instrumental in raising the funds, said the new path to the water can assist the entire community.

“When it gets hot, the sand will be scorching,” he said. “And people will walk on the mat instead of on the sand, on the way to the concession stand, and (to and from) the high-water line.” Mothers with strollers and beachgoers carrying carts full of necessities will benefit from the mat, he said.

After Hotchkiss finished trying out the new device, she said agreed that it works well.

Parents of individuals with disabilities and employees from social services agencies, such as Abilis, Community Centers Inc. and the Greenwich Department of Human Services, also attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony led by First Selectman Peter Tesei.

During a short speech, Tesei said the device provides access to people who otherwise could not enjoy one of the town’s best destinations.

“When we came in the past with our special needs groups, they stayed up at the concession stands and really didn’t walk onto the beach at all,” said Sydney Henck, a social worker at Community Centers Inc. “We have clients that are in walkers, clients who use wheelchairs and clients who, even without those aides, have awkward or limited mobility and so we we’re forced to kind of stay up here on the dry land. Now we’re going to be able to go out and access the water to splash around and participate in what other people would consider as normal beach activities.”

Jennifer Flatow, director of development at Abilis, an organization that helps residents of all ages with developmental disabilities, said that while the town is open-minded about expanding accessibility, it has a long way to go, as do other states.

“Something like this is a huge benefit to (my clients), but something as simple as making cross walks better marked, making sidewalks more leveled and safe, those are (also) big things,” Flatow said. “To make sure the surfaces are flat and safe are really of the utmost importance to them.”

Gunzburg said his work doesn’t stop there. He hopes to add a second AccessMat near another concession stand.

“It’s important to continue the mission of creating a town that’s accessible for everybody,” he said. “This is just a small step here but it’s a symbolic one, and number two, its required (by the ADA). I love my town. That’s why I’m working so hard.”

tatiana.flowers@thehour.com