Compliance with handicapped accessible regulations by providing specially equipped restroom facilities for Clarkson's Town Hall have thus far proved to be cost prohibitive.

Town of Clarkson Supervisor Paul Kimball said the cost of upgrading the town's building was more than officials anticipated. "In order to better serve the residents of the Town of Clarkson we have been researching solutions to make restroom facilities in the town hall handicapped accessible," he said.

While the building itself is accessible to residents with disabilities, the restroom facilities are not specially equipped, nor are they large enough to accommodate a wheelchair.

Early in the spring of 2001, Kimball said, town officials brought in a grants writer to research options for upgrading the town's historic building. In order to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Clarkson's town hall must be equipped with handicapped accessible bathrooms.

A grant was received which allowed the town to hire the architectural firm of Barkstrom and LaCroix to do a conceptual plan and provide the town with options on upgrading its facility.

Because of the building's historic significance, specifications had to be in compliance with the town's historic overlay plans. Clarkson's town hall was constructed in 1899. When it was built it was situated at the edge of the road, Kimball said. In 1937, the Civilian Conservation Corps moved the building back to its present location. The front porch was also added at that time.

Barkstrom and LaCroix came to the board August 14 with two separate proposals for the recommended upgrades. The first carried a price tag of $182,694 and called for enclosing the front porch area of the town hall and installing an elevator. The elevator would have served the first and second floors and would have afforded access to handicapped accessible restrooms which were included as part of the package.

The second plan called for constructing an addition to the Town Hall building, extending it out into the present parking area, adding an elevator, and offering restroom facilities on both floors. That proposal would have cost $246,697.

"We had no idea on the cost of the plans that were coming back to us," Kimball said. "We had been hoping to get ourselves in position to submit a grant application for the next cycle."

Upon hearing the costs for the proposal Kimball said, the board unanimously determined it was cost prohibitive. "One of the limitations with our building is the parking," Kimball said. "The second plan presented to us would have infringed on the little bit of parking we do have."

The plan to enclose the front porch, he said, would have dramatically altered the front of the building and its historic look.

Kimball thanked the architects from Barkstrom and LaCroix for their work on the project. "I don't think the numbers were inflated ... they were honest numbers, they just were higher than we had anticipated.

"We will have to take a long, hard look at what we will do in the future," he said.

Ideas discussed included installing a handicapped accessible bathroom in the existing first floor but that would infringe on the building's meeting room. The other idea, Kimball said, was to hold meetings in the town's courthouse.

"One of the ideas, when we constructed the courthouse, was the thought that it could be expanded," he said. "We could actually put an addition on the courthouse and put offices in and have a common meeting room where the court is."

Kimball cautioned that it was premature to come to any conclusions on the next steps town officials would take in the installation of the specially equipped restrooms.

"We know we have to do something," he said. "We will look at it again at our September board meeting."

The next regularly scheduled Town of Clarkson board meeting will be September 25.