Group Sues To Stop The Installation Of Ramps

A Beacon Hill residents association has sued the city of Boston to stop the installation of sidewalk ramps for the disabled the civic group says would spoil the character of the historic neighborhood.

The Beacon Hill Civic Association said in the complaint filed in Suffolk Superior Court on Tuesday that it is trying to "prohibit the city from reconstructing or altering the sidewalks and streetscape in the historic district using historically inappropriate materials and designs."

The Boston Globe reports that the suit was filed on the same day city workers began installing the first of more than 250 ramps.

The civic association has asked that the ramps be built of materials consistent with the historic nature of the neighborhood, but the city dismissed that as too expensive.

[Associated Press]