Disability advocates criticize park closures

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) -For many Labor Day is last summer hurray, filled with beach time and barbecues, but many members of the physically disabled community are going to be left behind because the State has been slow to reopen the park dedicated to people with physical disabilities.

Rish Park is located on Cape San Blas on the Panhandle Coast.

The seaside park is the only facility fully accessible to disabled people for outdoor recreation.

The park has been closed since Hurricane Michael of 2018.

Disability advocates say the state is dragging its feet.

This Labor Day weekend, that beautiful sun right now. I would like to be at the beach. Other disabled Floridians would love to be at the beach. But Rish Park is closed, said attorney Dr JR Harding.

A drone video taken in August 2019, 10 months after Michael’s shot, shows damage to the beach walkway, but little more.

It’s basically like the Department of Transportation doesn’t know how to build a road, said environmental engineer Dr Max Lee.

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Dr Lee said the park should have been open long before now.

The park itself could have been opened about two and a half years ago. I’d say eighty, seventy-five percent, Lee said.

The Disability Agency emphasizes that it couldn’t risk someone injuring themselves by opening the park before it was completely ready.

But advocates argue that people with disabilities often have a shorter lifespan and that three years is a long time.

So think about your family and what would you do if three years of it were taken away, Dr Harding said.

The Disability Agency pointed out that there are other facilities, such as a new ADA-compliant glass bottom boat in Silver Springs, but Harding and Lee argued that none of the facilities match the amenities. of Rish Park.

Rish Park is the only park operated by the Agency for the Disabled.

Advocates argue that the park would be better managed by the state park system than ODA.

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