Built for access

From left, North Country Community College spokesman Chris Knight, IPW 101 Director Joe Plumb, Ice Palace Accessibility Day organizer DJ Fowler, Accessible Adirondack Tourism founder Nick Friedman, Tri-Lakes Center for Independent Living Executive Director Mary Lamica and Franklin County Transportation Coordinator Tonya Allen stand in front of the Winter Carnival Ice Palace on Thursday. On Feb. 4, Fowler is organizing an accessible day at the Palace, where visitors can get a free bus ride to the icy spectacle, park in the lot next door if they have a disability placard and explore the frozen halls, which were built this year with accessibility in mind. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)
SARANAC LAKE — A crew of locals has been working to make the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival Ice Palace accessible to all people this year.
The Ice Palace Workers 101 builders are keeping accessibility in mind as the create the icy structure, and DJ Fowler is organizing the second annual “accessibility day” at the Palace on Feb. 4, where anyone, any age, with a mobility, mental health, physical health or chronic illness challenge can see the spectacle, park on-site or get a free bus ride to the site.
The parking lot next to the Ice Palace is usually closed to public parking during Carnival because of how busy the area gets with the crowds visiting the Palace. But on the accessibility day, disability parking will be opened up at the lot for people with placards or license plates showing disabilities.
Fowler said there will be additional hosts at the Palace that day to assist people in exploring the maze of walls, towers and sculptures, all carved from ice.
Starting at 10 a.m., the Franklin County Transportation bus with a wheelchair lift will stop at the Saranac Lake Adult Center back parking lot, the Tri-Lakes Center for Independent Living, the Lake Flower Apartments, the DeChantel Apartments and then to the Ice Palace.
To reserve a seat, contact Fowler at wintercarnivalfreerides@gmail.com.
The accessibility day will last from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The bus ride there won’t take the entire day, though. Fowler said after it arrives it will probably be there for around an hour. Visitors will be able to enjoy the Palace, and have coffee, doughnuts and fruit in the History Hut and Gift Shop.
She thanked Franklin County Transportation Coordinator Tonya Allen, Public Health Director Hannah Busman and Public Health Educator Sarah Granquist for their help organizing the day.
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Designed for access
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This year, IPW 101 Director Joe Plumb met with Accessible Adirondack Tourism founder Nick Friedman for accessibility consulting on the Palace design. The Palace already meets many of the accessibility design standards naturally, he said, but they’re adding more this year.
The Palace usually has multiple entrances for machinery during the building process. It always has a large courtroom as the main hall.
Accessible design standards call for hallways to be at least 48 inches wide, to allow two wheelchairs to pass by at the same time, Friedman said — to avoid bottlenecking. Plumb said the hallways are always 48 inches wide because the ice blocks are 48 inches long and are used as measuring tools.
The IPW have carved handrails into the walls before, and Plumb said they’re going to make a point of doing that going forward. They’ll use chainsaws to cut downward-sloping channels into the wall people can hold onto.
It can get slippery inside the Palace. Fowler recommends wearing microspikes or anything to increase foot traction. Tri-Lakes Center for Independent Living Executive Director Mary Lamica said there are attachments for walkers and canes to create friction on slippery surfaces.
And there’s one more safety feature of this year’s Ice Palace.
“This year — by the way, for safety’s sake — the Ice Palace is highly fire-retardant,” Friedman said with a sly grin.
Transportation is a big issue in Saranac Lake, Fowler said. The Palace is outside downtown and a long walk along the Lake Flower shoreline to reach. The village keeps the sidewalks as clear as they can, but it’s always a battle in the winter, Fowler said.
Fowler is hoping for more attendees this year. They had three on the bus last year, but she knows there’s more people who could use it.
Still, if it makes even one person’s Carnival more magical, it’s worth it, Fowler said.
Last year, she said, there was a woman in her 90s who had wanted to sit on the icy throne for years. At the accessibility day, she was able to. This woman died later that year, and Fowler said the woman’s daughter told her it was a “highlight” for her mother.
“That was a good day,” Lamica said, wiping tears. “It just means so much that people can get out and enjoy these things when they think that they can’t.”
Plumb said the accessibility upgrades are all about making the Ice Palace more inviting to all.
North Country Community College is sponsoring the event. NCCC spokesman Chris Knight said the college is focusing on accessibility a lot right now. Its campus is on a hill, and they’re working on improving its accessibility.
“Carnival is such an important part of what Saranac Lake is all about,” Knight said.
He wants everyone to experience it, see it and touch it.
It’s critical for inclusion, Friedman said.
“We have an aging population,” he said.
Older people often don’t like the label, but Friedman said disabilities fall on a wide spectrum. He pointed to his glasses. Fowler said she walked with a cane for a while after a knee replacement.
“All of us, at one time or another, may have a time when we have a disability,” she said.
Fowler is predicting “perfect weather” for Feb. 4.
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A previous version of this article incorrectly said the bus for the accessibility day at the Ice Palace will stop at the Saranac Village at Will Rogers. The bus will not stop there, but the living center has a van it will bring residents to the Palace in. The Enterprise regrets the error.