City to shell out money for a wheelchair lift — to a lifeguard station

by: Barbara Hijek July 26, 2010 07:54 AM
Lifeguards take pride in staying in great shape.
And you don't usually find lifeguards confined to wheelchairs doing the job.
However, government regulations require that lifeguards' headquarters on the beach be made handicapped-accessible, even though the only people who ever use the two-story buildings are the lifeguards, reports the St. Petersburg Times.


That means the little yellow building near Pier 60 on Clearwater Beach has to be brought into compliance with the state building code and the federal Americans With Disabilities Act, according to the St. Petersburg Times.
"It's odd. Obviously no one here is handicapped. No one in a wheelchair has ever asked to come up here," head lifeguard Donovan Burns told the Times.
The cCity of Clearwater ruled out installing an elevator. Instead they opted for a wheelchair lift. It's not clear yet how much the lift will cost.
Dunbar told the St. Petersburg Times that Clearwater was ordered to install a wheelchair lift for the home dugout where the Philadelphia Phillies have their spring training. That one cost $18,000.
"It has sat unused for seven years," Dunbar told the Times.