Access to the Coronado
The Coronado is known to many of you. The building sat vacant for many years until it was renovated into residences, offices and restaurants. Located across from Saint Louis University at Lindell and Spring (map) it is in the center of the action.
Last month I went to the Coronado to try the new Chuy Arzola’s. I couldn’t find on-street parking close enough for me so I drove around back to the parking garage.
The walk wasn’t short but it was shorter than anything I could have found on the street. Part of the garage is reserved for building residents (right). Guests drive in on a lower level and take the elevator to reach the walkway you see here. I was walking but to a wheelchair user it is completely accessible. Well, at least this part is.
Hmm, that curb just blows the accessibility.  I’m able to set up/down curbs but I like accessible routes because not having a curb to deal with reduces my risk of falling. People using wheelchairs & mobility scooters are out of luck. People using a walker may have a hard time stepping up. There may have been a ramp somewhere in the vicinity but I didn’t see it.
The lesson here is you can have many items that are compliant but if the end to end route has one curb all the other efforts don’t really matter.
– Steve Patterson
Figures. That curb is simply unacceptable. Hopefully your post will shed some light on this problem.
By the way, how is Chuy Arzola's? I have been meaning to go there but I'd like some input on it first.
It was good. Too few vegetarian choices I thought but the salsa was good as was the spinach enchilada.
It was not good. Nobody I know that has eaten there thought it was good. I was a total apolgist for that place when it was in Dogtown, standing up for it in the face of pretty much everyone's dislike of it, but after eating at the new location, even I had to concede that the food simply was not good. Bland, bad consistency overcooked, etc.
I do like their salsa. But let's not turn this post into a restaurant review. Dumb mistakes that impact accessibility is the topic.
Fair enough. I think we cna all agree that that access is ridiculous.
I agree with you. Being in a wheel chair is a obsticle all on it own. Thanks for the head up.
Chuy's will often have more vegetarian choices for specials, but the cheese enchiladas are absolutely my faves in town.
and that curb is a definite oops. somebody should have caught that.
I live at the Coronado. I actually think I saw you taking these pictures…I recognized you but didn't want to be the creepy person who approaches a complete stranger they know from the Internet. So.
There actually is a ramp, it's a small wooden ramp that sometimes is there and sometimes is not. We have trash rooms on each floor, and there's a staffer who goes around with a gigantic wheeled cart and collects the trash and takes it all down to the dumpster. I think maybe that's why the ramp is there sometimes, but that doesn't really explain why it's not there consistently.
Another accessibility issue is the garage elevator. I don't use if often, but sometimes I have luggage or lots of grocery bags (I park on the bottom level so I would need to go up stairs). And sometimes it is out of order. I don't know how frequently, since I rarely use it, but I think that's the problem- I rarely use it AND I've noticed this issue more than once.
FrontDoor, the leasing company that owns Coronado, is generally pretty responsive to complaints and/or problems. The metal fence that lines the sidewalk in the second picture was put in about a year ago because people kept taking a shortcut through the grass and shrubbery to get directly to the door into the garage (bypassing the sidewalk). It wore a trail into the grass and messed up the landscaping so now a fence.
Of course, that was a problem for THEM, because it didn't look nice. It was not a problem for residents or visitors. But still, I'd like to think they would be responsive if concerns were expressed. We had a recent rash of car thefts in the garage and they were pretty on top of things, sending out update emails and offering steering wheel locks at a discounted rate and getting the police to station patrol cars nearby. I have a lot of complaints about living here, but they do seem very concerned about problems encountered by residents and visitors.