Athens Community Hall bathrooms not handicap accessible

Village seeks help from the public

People who’ve attended a middle school basketball game at Athens Community Hall, which was built in 1937, know it’s a chore to access the original bathrooms. They are located on each side of the stage, in which you need to go down two flights of stairs to the basement. Humidity over the years has taken a toll on the sand plaster walls and the original plumbing fixtures in the bathrooms. It’s certainly not possible for a person in a wheelchair to use the bathroom while attending an event in Athens Community Hall.

The Progress Athens initiative was started by a group of citizens in 2021 to raise $400,000 for the purpose to purchase the former U.S. Bank building in downtown Athens and to renovate Athens Community Hall. The plan is to move the village office, police department and library into the larger U.S. Bank location.

Renovations include constructing a ramp from Athens Community Hall into the current municipal building, in which new handicap accessible bathrooms with changing areas for young athletes would be constructed after the village hall, police department and library are moved into the former U.S. Bank building. A kitchen and gathering area could also be incorporated into the design plans for the current municipal building.

The village of Athens invites anyone interested in helping fund the Progress Athens initiative, which would make construction of handicap accessible bathrooms a reality for people using Athens Community Hall, to send a tax deductible donation to the village designated for the handicap bathroom project.