Protesters block Citizens Bank
Seek access for wheelchairs

BY DAVID JOHNSON
The Dominion Post

    About a dozen protesters chanted, picketed and blocked entrances to Citizens Bank on High Street Friday, yelling at passing motorists to "honk for civil rights."
    Members of ADAPT of West Virginia, a civil rights group, protested because Citizens Bank does not have access for wheelchairs, a requirement of a 1990 amendment to the Americans with Disabilities Act.
    Protesters hindered the two High Street entrances to the comunity bank with their wheelchairs while others led cheers and held signs.
    "They've been breaking the law for eight years.  They've had more than enough time," said ADAPT member Ken Ervin.
    The main problem, Ervin said, is a single step that leads into the one of two entrances, but he also said the bank's counters don't allow wheelchair access.
    The ADA requires that all buildings accessible to the public provide equal access to persons with disabilities.  But for Citizens Bank, it won't be that easy.
    Friday's protest was not the first clash between ADAPT and Citizens Bank.  ADAPT protested the lack of wheelchair access last September in front of the bank.
    Four mounths later, bank president Joe Camp met with ADAPT members and agreed to conduct a an access survey.  The survey, done by Alpha Associates architectural firm. showed options and viabilities for wheelchair-access plans to the historical building.
    "The ideal places to put a ramp would be on either side of the building.  But we don't own that property; the county owns it," Camp said.   "We're just a small community bank.  We paid Alpha Associates $1,000 to do that study.  Now we're going to find (an ADA) lawyer."
    "We got the reprot not too long ago, and I think it's inconclusive," Camp said.  "It's not that simple.  We can't just put a ramp out on the sidewalk."
    Ervin said the plan called for a ramp outside the building, plus lowered countertop space inside for access to the tellers.  the building has two entrances on High Street.
    He claimed the reprot was completed last Dec. 17 and Citizens Bank has yet to respond to it.
    "We have them until (Friday) to reply," Ervin said.   "We will protest until our demands are met."
    Flyers handed out to passersby listed demands that included: a public apology to the disablled community published in the Dominion Post; construction on an accessible entrance must begin before June 22; and all access-relatedalterations be complete by Sept. 19, 1998.
    Camp said it's more complicated than that.  He saidhe can't put a ramp out on the High Street side of the historical building, because there only is about 7 feet of sidewalk between the building and the street.
    "It's not like putting a ramp in is a big deal.  It's only one step,"  Ervin said.
    Citizens Bank has a doorbell outside the building.  Camp said when partrons ring it, bank emplyees can give assistance.
    But ADAPT members said they don't feel they were treated fairly.
    "They call themselves the community bank, when we're part of the community," Ervin said.  "We bank, too."