Shakes and Silverall oh my!

Shakespeare’s  

Rather than going through the hassle of picking an accessible location and choosing the easiest route on the unsafe, Columbia sidewalks, we decided to meet our date at a no better date spot than Shakespeare’s Pizza-Downtown. 

Upon arriving at Shakespeare’s, we were unaware of how many troubles we would face concerning finding a table that was easily accessible to someone in a wheelchair. While there was a large, spacious seating area, there were only a limited number of tables with the exception of the outdoor patio where a wheelchair-user could fit, and an uncanny number of booths, some that were raised several feet off of the ground, that would not be sufficient.

Another notable roadblock that we ran into during our time at Shakespeare’s was the height of the counter where you receive your meal. The countertop was nearly the same height as Angela, making it extremely difficult for a wheelchair user to have independence when picking up their food. 

Finally, as our date needed to use the restroom in Shakespeare’s before we headed to our next date spot, we soon realized how uncomfortable and difficult one trip would be. The road to the bathroom was not only long and windy, making it unnecessarily difficult for someone with a disability to navigate, but the cobblestone bricks also made for an uneven, bumpy path. While the bathroom itself had a large, spacious accessible stall with three handrails, Shakespeare’s was overall not the most accessible, making the spot a bit stressful for the date despite the delicious pizza. 

Silverball 

The idea of going to Silverball seemed ideal for a date idea. However, we were unaware of all the roadblocks we would encounter. Silverball, unfortunately is not an accessible location. 

Walking up to Silverball, it looked hopeful for a fun time with our date, there seemed to be a lot of room and the door was pretty wide. However, that was possibly the only high of the date other than their good drinks. Once entering, we noticed that the first row of arcade games were on a single step platform, already making the main floor inaccessible to the majority of the games. There was one game right next to the platform however, it was a virtual game that you would have to sit inside of.

We continued to walk and noticed that the only access to the upstairs of Silverball were all through big staircases, no elevators present to help increase access to the games above. Our hopes for a fun time for our entertainment part of the date are pretty low right now, we go all the way to the back of the main entrance and there is a foosball table, however depending on our dates disability, it wouldn’t even be an option due to how tall it is or lack of leg space underneath it, the same goes for the air hockey game right next to it. There is a new expanded area to Silverball that is really open and spacious, however their only seating is at the bar and some booths that do have some leg room underneath and that are pretty tall, most of the time it isn’t busy so this could be an alternative location not necessarily for entertainment but maybe just to get a drink and chat!

Moral of the story, the “S” in Silverball stands for none other but stairs. 

Starbucks at Memorial Union

When we were walking from the downtown area to Memorial Union, it was clear that the sidewalks and parts of campus such as Lowry Mall was not the best for an individual in a wheelchair. But Memorial Union did have an accessible side entrance that was not far from the main sidewalk area, and it was newer and well lit up. We did check out the other ramp entrance in the back, and there was barely any lighting so it was not safe.

While we were in Memorial Union there were ramps to get to Starbucks, and to the main area of seating. When looking inside of Starbucks, there was a significant amount of room to get around. Inside of Starbucks, there was seating that was accessible, but there was also a high table that was not accessible. We decided to move towards the main part of the seating area, and the tables and chairs were able to be moved around. There were a lot of tables and chairs so it was hard to get around, but they were able to be moved around. Memorial Union also does have hallways that have enough room, and we could have moved to a more private area as well. Memorial Union does have a functioning elevator too and allowed for enough room. Memorial Union was definitely the most accessible place for the date. It was nice to end on a higher note when it came to the date, and seeing a much more accessible place.