In 2014, the Augsburg Village Board of Directors engaged my services to design a ramp to address this problem, but it was apparent that even with the addition of a ramp, the entire brick paved front porch itself would have to be raised another 5 inches to meet the inside floor level.

After considering the visual impact of the length of ramp required to address the overall 27 inch level change, I proposed instead, raising the porch and grade in front of it, and then bringing the driveway and a new sidewalk up to create a level drop-off area, with a minimum slope from the landing to the front door. This required the four original wood portico columns be cut off about 5 inches to sit on the raised porch paving. In addition, a new airlock entry, designed to echo the original historic entry surround details while leaving the original intact, would be built with automatic sliding doors that would allow the existing hinged (swinging) doors to be removed.

The linchpin of the project was the new brick/site retaining wall and planting bed, designed by Stone Hill Design Associates of Baltimore, which screens the driveway/drop-off grade change, without obscuring views of the Porch. (Photo 4)

The Board agreed to the proposed changes and entered into a contract with Riparius Construction of Hunt Valley, MD  whose expert supervisor and subcontractors carefully executed the modifications. The work was begun in November of 2015, and completed in the Spring of 2016.

Seeing the ease with which elderly and disabled residents are now able to access the facility, has made this one of the most personally rewarding projects of my 30+ years practice.