Metro Roundup: World-class facility gets an upgrade

Since 1984, the Lakeshore Foundation has worked to provide opportunities for people with disabilities.

A new $17.5 million expansion of the Lakeshore Foundation campus, located in Homewood on Lakeshore Drive, will allow even more athletes to take advantage of its services.

The expansion includes a 21,000-square-foot addition to the main building and outdoor enhancements. The project not only addressed some of the needed upgrades outlined in the organization’s master plan, but it also had unintended benefits for operating during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For example, one of the rooms in the new addition is a multimedia lab with state-of-the art technology, said Jeff Underwood, Lakeshore Foundation president and CEO. The space can be used as a training and educational center, and the technology allows Lakeshore employees to host virtual meetings with people all over the world.

“We weren’t expecting a pandemic when we designed the addition to this building,” he said. “But it’s positioned us to do a lot more in the virtual environment.”

Next to the multimedia lab is a space dedicated to one-on-one telecoaching rooms.

“They have the same kind of technology built in,” Underwood said. “If you’re doing a one-on-one session with a client who may be halfway around the country or halfway around the world, and you want to show them a certain training or exercise, we can do that through these individual telecoaching rooms.”

Last year, the Lakeshore Foundation produced more than 200 videos related to its programs. Videos include topics such as how to buy a wheelchair or other how-to topics related to a physical disability. The new Lakeshore addition includes a video production lab that will make this process easier.

“We are sending out to the world information that can be useful to anyone with a disability, or a family member, healthcare provider or teacher,” Underwood said. “We really are the thought-leaders with regards to disability and activity. And we can produce our own content, and then we can transmit it out to our friends, partners or anybody. We’re touching the world.”

In addition to these technological advancements, the new addition also includes a yoga studio, dance studio and nutrition lab. The nutrition lab can be used to teach clients how to prepare healthy meals and to demonstrate how a kitchen can be accessible to people with disabilities.

The nutrition lab’s countertops can be raised and lowered to accommodate a wheelchair user. The lab’s oven has a door that opens on the side, which has an easier reach for a wheelchair user.

“There are a lot of features that don’t look obvious but promote accessibility,” Underwood said. “It might be a little thing for a lot of people.”

Similar to other rooms in the new addition, the nutrition lab has cameras throughout the room so Lakeshore employees can create videos and teach classes.

“Some of our Paralympic athletes want to know more about how they can eat healthy, and we can do programs in here,” Underwood said. “And most of those athletes live in various places around the country, so we can broadcast out to them.

“There’s a lot of research going on related to nutrition and disability, so I’m excited to see this space being used the way it is,” he said.

STEPPING OUTSIDE

The renovations included outdoor enhancements as well. There aren’t stairs outside — despite being on a sloped landscape, the Lakeshore Foundation campus is designed to allow a person to get from his or her car to each of the campus’ buildings by going down a path surrounded by landscaping and common areas.

“Before we did this, this campus was sort of a nice collection of buildings, but it really wasn’t a campus,” Underwood said. “It didn’t have a unified space. There was really no reason to be outside on the campus unless you were going to or from the car.”

That wasn’t the case when The Homewood Star toured the campus, though. It was a slightly chilly but sunny November morning, and people were spread out and social distancing on the outdoor tables, enjoying their lunch. Around them, the plants lining the sidewalk celebrated the colors of fall. There wasn’t much pavement around the tables.

“This space before was all practically either parking or roadways,” Underwood said. “So we developed this central commons, as we call it, and it’s a gathering spot and a much safer passageway around campus.”

Beyond the parking lot is a new trail system with an approximately 3/10-mile-long paved path. It leads to a contemplative garden with an arbor and water feature. It can be used for anybody on the campus who needs a quiet place, Underwood said.

Once again, this addition had unintended benefits for operating during a pandemic.

“Just as the new addition and the technology advanced our ability to do a lot of virtual programming and live streaming of exercising programs, because we now have this space, we’ve given our clients an outside opportunity to exercise, which we didn’t have before,” Underwood said. “Everyone in the pandemic said, ‘If you’re going to do something, try to do it outside.’ So because we had this space when the pandemic hit, it gave us an option and better prepared us to respond to the challenges of the pandemic.”

Underwood, who has been president of the Lakeshore Foundation for almost 30 years, said he is ready to retire next year. Looking at the expansion during his final year at the foundation makes him feel pleased, he said.

“We’re very pleased with the reaction that we get from our clients,” he said. “We build these facilities so they can have a better experience. And when your clients tell you they love the new spaces and they love being able to do these additional things … that’s what we’re trying to do.”

People come to the Lakeshore Foundation from all over the world to improve their health and physical fitness, said Damian Veazey, the associate communications director for the foundation. These people include wheelchair rugby athletes who train there every year, it includes injured military men and women, and it also could be people in the community with a disability or chronic health condition who want to exercise to improve their health.

Each member has a qualifying condition, and the foundation offers scholarships for members based on income.

The foundation is also a training site for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams. Visit lakeshore.org for more information.