AURORA | Aurora’s City Council chambers are not the most accessible for people with disabilities and have been out of compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act since a ruling in 2010.
Getting to an updated design, however, will cost the city nearly $1 million.
During the city council’s winter workshop meeting, lawmakers addressed the ongoing issue of the lack of accessibility in the Paul E. Tauer Aurora City Council Chamber and agreed to update the ADA approved 2023 design simultaneously with the citywide ADA transition plan, aiming for completion by summer.
Funding for reconstructing the chambers, however, remains unidentified.
“Since the chambers is where the public is invited to be, it’s such a pressing matter for it to have to be ADA compliant,” Councilmember Alli Jackson said. “Out of any of the rooms or construction projects we could continue to invest throughout this larger plan to make the city of Aurora more accessible and ADA compliant, I think the city chambers is a great next step, and especially given the community voice that has continually been advocating during public invite to be heard.”
The issue has been ongoing for years, with Aly Dewills-Marcano, the wife of former city Councilmember Juan Marcano, regularly recently speaking out at city council meetings. She points out how she needs to have city staff assist her in taking her electric wheelchair into a small elevator so she can reach the lectern on the council chambers floor to speak during the public invited to be heard sessions. Dewills-Marcano and her husband, Juan Marcano, originally worked to get an ADA approved plan for the chambers in 2021 when he was on city council.
The elevator serving people with disabilities in the council chambers can only fit one person at a time, and during a recent meeting Dewills-Marcano got stuck making her way to the first floor.
“If you’ll give me just a second before the clock starts, just to center myself,” she said during a previous meeting. “I just got stuck in the elevator, and there’s something really terrifying about being stuck in a box and having to yell for someone to let you out.”
Accessibility improvements to the council chambers were first identified in 2021 through a city space study, according to Deputy City Manager Laura Perry. At the time, $750,000 in federal pandemic relief funding was earmarked for design and construction. The plans proposed to add ramps from the chamber entrance to the floor, along with creating accessible seating on the chamber floors and improving access to the council dais.
The design package was bid out in November 2023, and in February 2024 the council voted to defer construction amid broader conversations about ADA priorities citywide. If the city were to construct the 2023 design today, Perry said the estimated cost would be approximately $975,000, which is now significantly higher than the original estimated price.
Perry said that the city would need to reach back out to the architects who wrote the plans. Having them update the information could take three to four months, and it could take four to six months if they have to get new architects.
Additional improvements and consulting an ADA expert for additional on site could take longer as well, Perry said.
“ADA regulations are incredibly complex, and you need experts in interpreting those regulations,” City Manager Jason Batchelor said. “I think one of the things we’ve learned is that you really do need that kind of expertise, looking over, making sure that all of the regulations are being met.”
The actual construction would take an estimated eight months and would require a full closure of the chambers because of demolition and dust, officials said.
Since the city council deferred the plans to coincide with the transition plan, the city has begun updating its ADA self-evaluation and transition plan. Phase one focused on public rights-of-way, including sidewalks, curb ramps and pedestrian crossings. Now their assessments are focusing on all city facilities.
In December, the city’s ADA consultant determined that the council chambers do not meet current ADA standards.
When the chambers were built in 2004, they complied with the 1991 ADA guidelines, but updated federal standards in 2010 require facilities to meet more stringent requirements. City consultants identified necessary modifications to the existing design plans, including adjustments to ramps, handrails, landings and signage, Perry said.
Perry gave city council two main options: identify approximately $100,000 from the capital projects fund to update the design plans now and obtain a revised construction estimate, or wait until the full ADA transition plan, including recommendations and prioritization for all city facilities, is complete before advancing the chambers project.
Perry said both options could also proceed simultaneously.
While funding for the design update is available within existing capital funds, no construction funding has been identified, as Councilmember Angela Lawson pointed out. Perry said city staff would return to city council with updated cost estimates and funding options once the design revisions are complete.
The majority of city council members said they supported moving forward with the design update while continuing the broader ADA transition planning process.
Councilmember Gianina Horton requested cost estimates for alternative meeting locations, such as using a large meeting room at the city library, should the chambers close during construction.
“I’m for doing both simultaneously,” Horton said. “I think if we’re going to do this, or at least consider doing it, we should at least do it right and as updated as possible, so that the conversation doesn’t have to be revisited for years to come.”
There was a general consensus to proceed with updating the design while aligning future construction decisions with the city’s annual budget process later this summer, as directed by Batchelor. He said the city hopes to integrate the full ADA transition plan into upcoming budget discussions, allowing city council to consider funding options holistically.
Perry said that the ADA transition plan is a long-term roadmap that guides both operational and capital improvements across Aurora’s facilities. Each phase includes public meetings and a formal hearing before council, as required by the U.S. Department of Justice.
“It sounds like there’s general consensus,” Batchelor said. “We’ll move forward with that design. We’ll come back to you all, probably later this summer, and then I think we’ll also work on final timing for the transition plan.”
Dewills-Marcano has repeatedly told city lawmakers that the improvements have been shelved long enough.
“My body is degrading faster than this chamber is getting fixed, and disabled residents should not have to sacrifice their health to attend their own government,” DeWills-Marcano said during a previous meeting. “Do not wait for disabled residents to crawl back up to this lectern again to remind you.”