Peggy O’Neill Basham Park in Williston is Like a Work of Art, but Needs Better Access for Handicapped People

Commentary – By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

Peggy O’Neill Basham Nature Park off NW 7^th St. in Williston is an extraordinarily attractive park at this time of year with the azalea bushes in full bloom.

Truthfully, I’m certain it’s beautiful all year long. The park consists of a hard clay sidewalk winding between stately oaks and azalea bushes and other types of flowering bushes.

This reporter visited the park for the first time a few weeks ago and was extremely impressed by the beauty of the park and the dazzling colors, but didn’t see any handicap ramp for visitors in wheelchairs.

I went back last week and found a handicap ramp on the south end of the parking lot. The ramp empties into the clay sidewalk just above the gazebo. The ramp was covered by leaves and had no sign posted indicating the existence of a handicap ramp and no painted parking places for handicapped motorists.

At the March 16 city council meeting, I stepped out of my reporter’s role and brought the matter to the attention of council members. I wasn’t sure if there was a ramp in the park at the time I made my appearance, but I discovered the ramp a couple of days later on St. Patrick’s Day. I almost missed seeing it under the leaves.

Walking the trail between the flowering bushes gives me a good feeling. I’m sure everyone experiences the park in different ways when they walk through it. It’s like walking through a painting. The park is a gift to the community, a gift to humanity.

I have always been empathetic with handicapped people and especially those in wheelchairs. If you have ever climbed in a wheelchair and attempted to maneuver through manmade obstacles it can be frustrating and disheartening.

When I was doing a series of stories on the Americans with Disabilities Act in Citrus County a few years ago, a woman with expertise on the subject took me to a place where street curbs made wheelchair travel difficult. She asked me to sit in a wheelchair and try to maneuver onto the sidewalk. I completed the task with enormous difficulty and was glad to stand up again.

My comments to the Williston council on March 16 concerning Peggy O’Neill Basham Park were intended to bring greater awareness of the need for handicapped access to the park. I felt the entire park should have a hardened sidewalk, perhaps concrete, that would make it accessible to handicapped people in wheelchairs to see the park just like able-bodied people. It wouldn’t be easy for them to wheel themselves through the park, even with a concrete sidewalk, because there is a slight hill.

The council members said they would check on it.

I talked to a couple of city council members on St. Patrick’s Day at the city staff celebration, which was the day I discovered the parking lot of the park has an unmarked handicapped ramp.

Councilwoman Debra Jones said the park was named for the daughter of former City Attorney Bill O’Neill who created the park in her honor after she passed at a young age. Councilman Marguerite Robinson indicated her husband, Mayor Jerry Robinson, walks to the park almost daily as part of his exercise routine.

City Manager Jackie Gorman said she would take care of placing a handicapped sign at the ramp and having a handicapped parking space painted next to the ramp. She said it would have to meet the requirements of state and federal law.

Jones said she was only speaking for herself, but the city might consider paving the clay sidewalk from the ramp down to the gazebo. I didn’t comment on her suggestion. She is a councilwoman. I am an outsider.

**One of the first sights to greet visitors are the azalea bushes surrounding the gazebo.**

The gazebo, which is also attractive, doesn’t have a ramp for people in wheelchairs. I don’t want to make this any more difficult than it has to be, but a ramp would have to be built to the gazebo or it wouldn’t be usable by people in wheelchairs.

My personal view is that most of us able-bodied people go on with our lives without ever taking time to see the world from the view of someone in a wheelchair.

I told the council everyone should be able to experience the beauty of this incredible park. I don’t think handicapped people in wheelchairs should be required to view it from a distance.

My sense is that someone in a motorized wheelchair or scooter would be able to see the entire park now. The ride will be a little bumpy on the hard clay path but it could be done.

Empathy isn’t the same as sympathy. You might feel sympathy for someone in a wheelchair but until you can ride a mile in their shoes and see what they see and understand what they feel, you may not experience empathy for them.

The decision on what to do about making the park handicap-accessible is a council decision. I know personally people who are familiar with the Americans with Disabilities Act who could probably advise me on what the city’s options might be. I haven’t gone that route yet. Gorman said she is familiar with ADA requirements and will handle it.

I always encourage people to practice empathy, the thought process of walking a mile in someone else’s shoes, feeling what they feel, and understanding someone from their perspective.

Others will feel empathy for them. It’s part of their DNA.

That’s my mansplaining for the day.

Thanks for reading.