When Whitehall High School grad Alex LeaTrea received word that the White Lake Community Library was asking for help with a new rollaway seat at its solar-powered tables that were unveiled in 2022, he decided to be part of the solution.
In the Muskegon Area Career Tech Center’s biotech class, LeaTrea led a project to construct and install three new seats, which now allow seating for four people at three tables while also maintaining flexibility to roll away one of the seats if a wheelchair user wants to use the space. The tables were intentionally designed, in their original configuration, to leave an empty spot on one of the four sides, leaving room for a wheelchair user if needed.
Library director Virginia DeMumbrum said the idea came from board member Annlyn McKenzie in response to several comments from people who wanted to make it possible for four people to sit at the tables. McKenzie approached the CTC about having a student construct a solution, and that got LeaTrea’s wheels turning.
“This is one of the first projects I started on for the biotech class,” LeaTrea said. “The biotech class was designed around finding people with physical and mental disabilities and building something to make their lives easier in the long run.”
LeaTrea worked to build a seat that allows for a fourth person to sit at the solar tables, but also sits on a wheel and can easily be moved to the side if a wheelchair user wants to use that spot.
Incidentally, at one point LeaTrea himself faced the issue the library’s customers were concerned with. His family visited the library and wanted to sit down to eat at the table, but there was not enough room for them all to sit because of the empty space where a fourth seat could have been.
LeaTrea worked with Teagan Bane, a Holton alum, on creating the rollaway seat, but said Bane was later pulled away to work on another project, leaving LeaTrea spearheading things.
LeaTrea began by approaching the company that made the plastic seats for the tables - a small company named EnerFusion, out of Lansing - to explain the situation. After procuring a seat, the project was, he said, pretty straightforward.
“The rest of it is pretty much all metal, welded by instructors and students in the CTC welding class,” LeaTrea said. “I machined multiple pieces and parts on the actual seat as well.”
The project went smoothly, LeaTrea said, though he had to come up with a slight design tweak late in the process to make the seat easier to manufacture. He said he was proud of the results.
DeMumbrum said the library was thrilled with the results, too, and especially excited a local resident took a lead role in the seat’s production. She added she’d love to pursue a patent for LeaTrea for the rollaway seat.
“We’ll be reaching out to the manufacturer of the tables to get one for the other (solar tables),” DeMumbrum said. “We want to get one downtown and at the Whitehall Township one.”
Early reviews have been positive. DeMumbrum said she noticed a family using the newly configured table soon after installation was complete and received a glowing report.
“We just wanted to be as inclusive as possible in order to be ADA accessible,” DeMumbrum said, referring to the Americans with Disabilities Act. “The rollaway seat is a perfect happy medium. It’s usable by everyone.”
