CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Texas Parks and Wildlife told 3NEWS that they are starting a new accessibility initiative, making park facilities accessible for all Texans, regardless of their level of physical ability.
The Department's Accessibility Manger Jessica Burke said the initiative is years in the making.
"About five years ago, we started on a project to go through and assess all of Parks and Wildlife public facing facilities and properties," Burke said. "It was a huge initiative and taking from the agency."
She said the department has been thorough in figuring out just what exactly each park will need to make it easier for those with disabilities to accesses their parks.
"It took over two years to go through building by building and sidewalk by sidewalk and look at where we are with accessibility," Burke said. "We know we're not where we need to be but the first thing we had to do was just to figure out where we are right now."
The department now has a database that marks every barrier for access around the agency. Updates to their website now also allow people to see where those project updates stand and even allow people to submit requests for accessibility modifications.
Dr. Jennifer Scott with the City's Committee for Persons with Disabilities said the database is a crucial aspect to the department's initiative.
"I think they're doing it the right way because they're making decisions for people who are living with disabilities," Scott said. "They need to hear from that population in order to make those quality decisions."
Division Director for Support Services, Scott Stover, said that while some of the changes the department needs to make are small, some will require a little more work.
"Some of the items are a lot larger," Stover said. "They're going to require design in some cases, construction in a lot of cases, building new restrooms, redoing sidewalks and parking lots."
Regardless of the amount of time and work it will take to get every park to where it needs to be, Burke said the department will do whatever it takes to make their parks accessible for all.
"Not everybody loves camping, not everybody loves hiking, not everybody loves hunting, and that's ok," Burke said. "But, you should have the access and the ability to do those things if you want to."
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