Mary Milz/Eyewitness News
Indianapolis - People with disabilities are finding a lack of access in newer parts of the Indianapolis skywalks.
Indianapolis is touting the new additions to its skywalk system as a way to move people from hotels to the convention center and to Lucas Oil Stadium.
But several of the doors do not have buttons that open them, making it hard for people who use wheelchairs - and some others - to get through.
The skywalks in question are those leading from the new multi-million dollar JW Marriott at West and Washington, through the state garage, over Maryland and into the west end of the Convention Center.
Shirley Dupont, visiting from Alabama, noticed the problem as she walked from the JW to the convention center. Dupont, who uses a cane, pointed to the door leading into the Convention Center.
"It even says automatic door, but it's not," she said. Asked if that bothered her, she said, "Yes, and if I were carrying packages it would be a huge inconvenience."
Irene Wegner addresses accessibility issues for AARP's Indiana branch. She was also perplexed, especially given that the rest of skywalk system has automatic doors - even if they're not always working. We found that the door leading from Convention to the Westin failed to activate.
Pointing to a group of people pulling a cart loaded with instruments and other equipment, Wegner said, "How are they going to get through? And it's not just if you're disabled but if you have a lot of materials or something else. It's an irritant for conventions coming here."
Many people might be surprised to learn that automatic doors aren't required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
But as Wegner said, "If you have a public building and you want to welcome people from all over the world and have people come and be part of the city, then you do need to have that."
Scott Blaylock is the new general manager for the Indianapolis JW Marriott. He wasn't aware of the issue until contacted by Eyewitness News. Checking into it further, Blaylock said the automatic doors apparently did not come up when consultants were helping with the design of the new hotel.
But he also said, "We want to have the best possible hotel for the city and the Marriott brand."
He said as a result they will install automatic doors in their skywalks to ensure they're accessible.
