Accessibility and Preservation at the Presbyterian Church of Fredericksburg

As Habalis completes the elevator installation at the Presbyterian Church of Fredericksburg, I find myself interested in the relationship between accessibility and historic preservation. Writing this post gives me the opportunity to look into an aspect of preservation I’m not familiar with and highlight a recent Habalis project that focused on accessibility.

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) prompted discussion among preservationists about how to promote accessibility at historic properties. It takes careful planning to make sure neither historic fabric nor accessibility is compromised in the alteration of a historic property. Preservation Brief 32 by the National Park Service (NPS) is a helpful guide to making historic structures and landscapes more accessible. The NPS recommends a three-step approach when considering accessibility at a historic property:

1. Review the historical significance and identify character-defining features. (There’s a Preservation Brief for this, too!)

2. Assess the property’s existing and required level of accessibility. State and local codes must be considered in addition to federal law, and alterations should be planned to meet the strictest applicable code.

3. Identify and evaluate accessibility options within a preservation context, using the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.

Ultimately, the NPS wants to see a balance between preserving character and creating access for those with disabilities. The ADA Accessibility Guidelines make this possible by allowing “qualified historic buildings” (those listed in or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places or designated as historic at the state or local level) to meet more lenient minimum requirements when compliance with the standard minimum requirements threatens historic significance and fabric.

At the Presbyterian Church of Fredericksburg, Habalis converted one of two stairwells located on either side of the sanctuary into an elevator shaft. The elevator takes members from its vestibule entrance to either the choir room below or the sanctuary above. The door into the vestibule entrance was designed to resemble the window it replaced and blend in with the other windows along the side of the church. Part of the staircase in the converted stairwell was retained and can still be seen through the window above the vestibule door.

The elevator was carefully designed by BRW Architects of Charlottesville, Virginia. Throughout installation, a wheelchair was used to test dimensions and materials. All doors associated with the elevator are automatic and timed to give someone in a wheelchair time to enter and exit comfortably. To compliment the new elevator, Habalis created wheelchair access to one of the pews in the sanctuary by replacing a skinny door with a wider one. All historic fabric removed during the project was labeled and is now stored at the church, making future reversibility a viable option.