Santander Bank improves access for disabled

WESTPORT - Santander Bank's branch office in Central Village has made efforts to serve customers with disabilities with the installation of an automatic door opener, the Westport Commission on Disability said in a news release.

The installation of new lobby doors wide enough to permit wheelchair access and equipped with automatic opening buttons inside and out were recommended by the commission some years ago, and recently completed.

Improving accessibility to public buildings and local businesses is just one of the missions of the Commission on Disability, established by a 2009 town meeting vote, the release stated.

The commission seeks to accomplish its missions by encouraging public awareness of disability issues, identifying concerns of residents with disabilities, and working in cooperation with town departments and private businesses to bring about the maximum participation of residents with disabilities in community life.

Partnering with commercial enterprises in town to improve accessibility for all began about four years ago, when the new BayCoast Bank branch in Central Village was under construction. Former commission chair Stanley Cornwall said he asked the construction foreman if the installation of an automatic door opener was planned at the new branch office. Told no, he requested one and was pleased when BayCoast Bank officials changed their plans to include that accessibility feature.

The following year, he approached the former manager of the Santander branch in Central Village and asked if they would make similar accommodations for people with disabilities. The request was passed on to bank executives, "but nothing happened," Cornwall said.

After repeated tries, Cornwall found a sympathetic ear in current branch manager Kate Sawyer, who got the branch's community relations staffer involved. "He went to the bank's regional president with the request," and got it approved, she said.

It took some time to get the new door openers and related equipment ordered and installed, but the work was completed last fall.

Sawyer said a number of customers have taken the time to thank her and the branch staff for the new automatic door openers. She credited the Commission on Disabilities, and especially Cornwall, with his persistent efforts to get the bank's cooperation on the installation.

"The squeaky wheel gets the oil," and Cornwall just kept squeaking until he accomplished his mission, Sawyer noted. She said she wishes the commission well with its efforts to convince other commercial enterprises to make similar improvements to their buildings.

"I hope that other businesses in town can accommodate people with disabilities as well as we could," she said.

That sentiment was echoed by current Commission on Disabilities Chair Brian Gallagher, who said the commission will continue to ask other businesses in Westport to improve accessibility as much as possible.

"It is our hope that the other banks in town, and other businesses, will follow suit" and retrofit their buildings to improve access by their customers, Gallagher said.

Commercial buildings are not the only focus of commission's efforts. The commission recently donated $1,000 from its gift account to the Westport Housing Authority to help pay for the installation of an automatic door opener for one of the authority buildings that houses a fully accessible apartment.

Gallagher said the commission has had less luck trying to get the owner of the post office on State Road to install an automatic door opener at the facility. Postal authorities have declined to pursue the matter with their landlord, who claims that the facility has grandfathered exemption from compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act regulations requiring an automatic door opener, according to the release.

The building owner, M.H. Parsons & Sons of York, Maine, has refused to make any special accommodations for people with disabilities by improving the entry way, Gallagher said. After nearly a year of trying, the commission is now asking the town's state and federal legislators to get involved in the campaign, the release stated.

Donations to the commission's gift account can be sent to: Westport Commission on Disability, Town Hall, 816 Main Road, Westport, MA, 02790. More information on the commission's efforts, is available by contacting Chair Brian Gallagher at bgallagher1155@gmail.com or visiting westport-ma.com/commission-disability.