"Progress"

Our city and the Southlake Historical Society has done a wonderful job of restoring, in accurate historic detail, a settlers cabin from materials used in three different original structures. Unfortunately, the log cabin has not been able to open because it is not ADA compliant (considered new construction).



From The Southlake Journal
Wednesday, Apr. 15, 2009
"Log Home on Blossom Prairie"
--City Told Construction Must Adhere to ADA Rules--
By Nicholas Sakelaris
Staff Writer

The Southlake Historical Society has gone to great lengths to recreate an authentic log house at Bicentennial Park that provides a link to Southlake’s earliest pioneers.

A fundraising effort is now under way to furnish the cabin with authentic furniture pieces from the 1850s and 1860s such as a crib, a one-legged bed and other furniture.

The log house was restored using remnants of three log houses and cabins that existed in the area nearly a century before Southlake was founded. The one-room house includes a stone chimney and a front and back porch. A newly added wagon sits atop the hill nearby where covered wagon trains once stopped on their way to California. The wagon, a buckboard, is surrounded by wildflowers, a reminder of a time when the nearby area was known as Blossom Prairie.

But recently the Southlake Historical Society has encountered a challenge that early settlers didn’t have when building their homesteads: compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Because the logs were assembled from three separate structures, the building is not considered an historic structure and must be made ADA-compliant for a certificate of occupancy to be issued, said Chris Tribble, director of community services

"We thought we would not have to make this ADA accessible," Tribble said.

That means the public cannot enter the log house for tours or any other reason until modifications are made.

"We have to modify the size of the front door," said Anita Robeson, SHS president. "These additional details have to be done to make sure everyone has access."

On April 7, the Southlake City Council approved a site plan for a wheelchair ramp that will wrap around the back of the log house and enter through the back door. The plan also includes a paved driveway and parking lot off North White Chapel Boulevard. .............

Full article
http://southlakejournal.com/news/story/4346.html

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