American Civil War Museum at Historic Tredegar

There is a guest parking area about 300 feet away from the main entrance with five total accessible spaces, 2 of which are van accessible. The surface of the accessible parking spaces in the visitor lot is gravel.

All spaces in the visitor parking lot are signed appropriately, including van accessible spaces, but the markings for the parking spaces and access aisles are covered with gravel.

There is an “employee only” lot, about 200 to 250 feet away from the main entrance, that has 2 asphalt paved van accessible spaces available, which guests can use as long as they are available and let museum staff know.

The signage for the staff parking lot is good, and all pavement markings are well contrasted with the asphalt.

There are no tactile pads at the transition from either parking lot surface to the sidewalk.

The pathways from either parking lot are relatively smooth and wide, with stone pavers.

Part of the pathway from the guest parking to the main entrance has a slight change in level along the left side of the path as you approach the building, without any edge protection.

Directional and informational signage does not have great contrast, nor braille or tactile alternatives, and directional signage for the accessible route to the main entrance is lacking.

There is an entrance ramp up to the main entrance doors to the left of the staircase as you face the building, and there are also stairs as an option.

Both the ramp and stairs have handrails on both sides, with good handrail extensions at the top and bottom of each.

The main entrance doors to the museum are fairly heavy glass doors that have about 40 inches clear width with the door fully open, a minimal threshold, and door hardware at an accessible height.

There is currently no automatic push button, but we are told that this should be coming soon.

Once inside, the flooring surface is primarily smooth concrete and wood flooring in the lobby areas and hallways, with low profile, compact carpet in the theater and main exhibit spaces.

Interior pathways are spacious, most doorways are kept open, or are automatic and are also very wide, and flooring transitions and thresholds are minimal to non-existent.

There are some changes in level along the edges of some outdoor paths and indoor paths that don’t have edge protection, particularly near the first floor restrooms and coat racks and also on the mezzanine level out but they are mostly not along the main circulation routes.

There is a cannon with a barrel that protrudes slightly into the circulation path both in the main entrance area as well as in the outside area on the Mezzanine and Terrace level.

There is plenty of seating throughout the museum, some of which is slightly above or below an accessible height, and about half of the available seating inside and outside of the museum has backrests and armrests.

The Robins Theater has plenty of accessible seating, mostly in the front, with spaces available for wheelchairs and seats on the ends of rows with armrests that fold up for easier transfers.

The point of sale counters at the welcome desk and museum gift shop are at an accessible height, the card reader is movable, and staff can assist with credit card purchases if needed.

There is some merchandise in the gift shop that may be difficult to reach for some, but staff is able to assist if needed.

The exhibits themselves are spacious, and cover two main floors and a mezzanine level with an outdoor area.

There are directional arrows on the floor of the first floor exhibit space that sort of guide you along, and they are well contrasted with the flooring surface.

There is an elevator in the museum which provides access to all 3 levels, however for the outdoor section of the mezzanine level, there is no re-entry from the doors you come out of and are required to take steps, or an outdoor elevator, which appeared to be broken at the time of our assessment, to gain access back into the museum.

The information within the exhibits is mostly in text form, with no braille or tactile alternatives.

There is an introductory film that has closed captions above the screen.

There are several touch screen displays and other interactive exercises that are mostly vision and writing based, with no audio alternative.

The site is fairly busy, generally, and can have echoes at times and in certain locations.

There are quiet spaces available on the mezzanine level where there are several chairs inside, and the outdoor section of the mezzanine level has several benches and is fairly quiet. Ask staff for a more quiet, private space if needed.

Windows in the front lobby space have shades, but most of the exhibit spaces and theater type areas do not have windows.

Signage, where it exists, for the most part: has good contrast, and some identification signage near doors has braille and tactile alternatives.

Restrooms are generally very accessible, although they are not marked as accessible, with 3 accessible single occupant restrooms (family restroom on the first floor, and two gendered restrooms on the second floor), and two multi-stall restrooms on the first floor (one men’s and one women’s).

Every restroom has grab bars around the toilet in the accessible stalls.

Most of the restrooms have automatic lights (although some of the sensors were not working properly at the time of our evaluation) and sensor controlled faucets at accessible heights above the floor.

The sinks have good knee space underneath in all restrooms and the piping for the sinks is insulated in all restrooms except the family restroom on the first floor.

There are no automatic openers on any of the doors but the doors are fairly lightweight with good maneuvering clearance on the pull side of the doors.

There are mobility devices available for guests to use during their visit, including two wheelchairs and a scooter.

There are kid’s welcome kits that have coloring books.

The location is service animal friendly, but not pet friendly in the museum.

The museum has an online store if online shopping is easier/preferred.

Bags with handles are available for any purchases in the museum gift shop to make carrying items easier.

Employees are going through, or have completed, disability etiquette training to differentiate and elevate their customer service.