The LightHouse’s Access to Information Services has produced several braille brochures and tactile trail maps for Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA). We’ve also provided training to GGNRA personnel on providing access and accommodation to people with disabilities and consulted on such things as audio tours and topographic maps.
Recently we visited a sculptor’s space for molding in Berkeley where we were asked to review the clay stage of the Redwood Creek Watershed topographic map she has been working on for the GGNRA. Measuring approximately 10 feet by 5 feet, the scale is much larger than the recently unveiled Lands End topographic map. Working from other topographic maps and satellite photos, she and her team have sculpted a model of the environs of Muir Woods from the peak of Mt. Tamalpais to the shore of Stinson Beach.
A bronze casting will be made for the visitor center at Muir Woods, and one done in concrete will be installed at Muir Beach. This model is so detailed that it even includes Mountain Play’s Greek-style Cushing Memorial Amphitheatre, and water poured on this model of Mt. Tam courses down the Redwood Creek Watershed to the Pacific, just as it would in reality. “I’m impressed by the model,” says LightHouse staffer Frank Welte, “It gives a clear tactile representation of how Mt. Tam, Muir Woods and Stinson Beach relate and how they are connected and traversed by trails and roads”. Both maps will be installed by the end of 2013.
For more information on how the LightHouse can help provide accessibility to a monument, museum or natural wonder, call Greg Kehret at 415-694-7349 or gkehret@lighthouse-sf.org. For more information about Muir Woods and accessibility call 415-561-4700 or email goga_accessibility@nps.gov.
