EXETER – The Town of Exeter, NH has installed a Universal Changing Station in the Town Hall building at 120 Water Street.

Select Board Chair Niko Papakonstantis states, “The Town of Exeter remains committed in complying with ADA guidelines. Installing the universal changing table was a significant step in ensuring that our downtown is safe and accessible for all.”

The new changing station is located in the public restrooms at the lowest level of the Town Hall building, adjacent to the Exeter Area Chamber of Commerce. There is a ramp from the sidewalk, automatic doors and signage to follow to the table. 

The Universal Changing Station was installed by the Town using funds from the ADA Capital Reserve Fund. Following the results of the 2019 ADA Study, the Select Board created a Warrant Article in 2023 to establish an ADA Capital Reserve Fund and fund it in the amount of $25,000. This went on the ballot and was approved in March 2023 with 73% approval. In 2024, another warrant article was approved to add $50,000 to the fund.

The NH Universal Changing Station Alliance calls Exeter “a model of both accessibility and collaboration. We encourage municipalities and entities across the state to emulate the process set forth by Exeter. They have achieved something truly momentous and have proved themselves to be leaders in the state.”

Users and their caregivers are palpably relieved to have the table installed. “A universal and accessible changing space offers our family dignity and safety for our medically complex son when he needs to use a restroom. Knowing there is a space to include him for such a basic human need is a relief from having to use floors, car trunks and other unsanitary locations,” says Anastacia Barr.

The group was instrumental in raising awareness of this unmet need. They are a team of moms on a mission to improve access and inclusion within the state for all. Amanda Kelly and Maureen Rashidifard, both Exeter residents, presented the idea for installing a table to the Select Board in September 2023 where the use of funds was approved unanimously. The final touches were put on the installation by Jeff Beck and the team at the Department of Public Works in August 2024, and flyers have been distributed to all the downtown businesses and restaurants showing the location of the table.

Universal Changing Stations are often an unrecognized need in the community. Older disabled children and adults who rely on incontinence products and a caregiver to assist them have historically been changed on bathroom floors or in the back of their cars if they venture out into the community. This lack of hygiene, privacy and dignity has left many feeling they must just stay home. With a full-size, height-adjustable table in the Town Hall, there is now a central location where anyone enjoying downtown can go. 

Exeter is the first town in the state to install a Universal Changing Station and it has been well received. Cymbidium Floral business owner Jessica Christoferson says, "I'm so pleased, as both a business owner and a resident of Exeter, to have a Universal Changing Station available; it shows that Exeter cares about being inclusive of its residents and visitors. It's a wonderful step in the right direction and hopefully will inspire other towns to follow suit.”

“We’d like to thank Town Manager Russ Dean, Assistant Town Manager Melissa Roy, ADA Coordinator & Building Inspector Doug Eastman, Town Planner Dave Sharples, DPW Maintenance Supervisor Jeff Beck and his team at DPW, members of the Select Board and the residents of Exeter for coming together to make this possible.”

Additional projects Exeter has undertaken for accessibility in recent years include renovating Park Street Common and Kid’s Park playgrounds to include accessible matting and new accessible equipment, new voting machines for blind residents, and the upcoming renovation of Planet Playground.