"When we can get involved, we can be very innovative," Thomas said. "The sooner we get involved, the more doesn't have to be redone later."
Thomas pointed to the AMC movie theater behind The Mall in Columbia as an example. Her group worked with the theater chain's officials to achieve disability access to seating, bathrooms and other services.
Piersall said she has found that while a handicapped parking space is nice, she must then often navigate manual door entrances to older shopping areas, something very difficult while using a walker. She and Richard Cohen, who is deaf, asked about having a shuttle bus, a tram or electric carts for people with mobility problems.
Hamm said a man who uses a wheelchair recently showed him how stairways and very steep bicycle ramps without handrails around the lakefront make it difficult, if not impossible, to get around the popular area.
Some things, such as the problem with access to Merriweather's stage, could be easily fixed when the venue is redesigned and renovated, Hamm said. Others, such as the lakefront, are more complicated because the Columbia Association, not General Growth, owns much of the land.
Andre Fontaine, an architect and access committee member, said the group welcomed Hamm's overtures.
"This is the first time we've been presented with a master plan of growth over decades," Fontaine said. "It's an opportunity."
