Lack of disability access to St. Louis arch No. 1 complaint

From the St. Louis Post Dispatch:

"It is not fair that people who cannot walk are not allowed to go up to the top of the Arch," the visitor, from central Illinois, complained in a letter to Arch officials in 2005. "The sight I saw at the top was very beautiful. I am so sure that many other people in wheelchairs who cannot walk want to see that sight."

A review of more than 200 complaints filed by visitors to the Arch with the National Park Service since 2002 show that most involve issues of handicapped accessibility, far ahead of other topics such as rude employees and long lines.

When they can, Park Service officials who manage the Arch make needed changes. They added more information on their website for disabled visitors, improved signage and added subtitles to movies to make the park more accommodating.

But there's one thing about the Arch officials say they can't change: Wheelchairs won't be going to the top, meaning most people who can't walk will have to stay below.

All of the experts agreed it would be impossible, with current technology, to make the top accessible for wheelchairs," said Mardi Arce, chief of Museum Services and Interpretation.

The Arch at the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, completed in 1965, pre-dates federal legislation that established disabled access standards. Still, that hasn't stopped improvements at other national monuments.