Lisa Harrison-Hall doesn’t let a wheelchair keep her from being active in every facet of her life: She is a peer specialist at the Independence Center in Colorado Springs, she is a mother, and she plays sled hockey – her favorite sport.

With a new accessibility symbol unveiled by Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach on Tuesday, Harrison-Hall said she hopes those in the community will learn to equate the symbol with an open and inclusive view of people with disabilities.

“This is an exciting move forward, and seeing the support the city gave to this project has been great,” she said. “It shows the community that we are not stagnant; we are representing disability by displaying ability.”

The International Symbol of Access, created in 1968, was replaced Tuesday at the City Administration Building with a new design that Bach described as a perfect fit for Colorado Springs’ inclusive approach to people with disabilities.

“We are the home of the Wounded Warrior Program and also in Fort Carson the Wounded Warrior Transition Battalion, and so many other efforts to work with people who are physically challenged. They’re a key part of our community and we want to honor them in this way,” Bach said at a news conference before unveiling the symbol. “I think it expresses in a general sense what this city is all about.”

The new symbol, designed by two Boston-based artists, reinvented the image of the familiar stick figure seated on a wheelchair and shows it moving forward to reflect society’s changing perceptions of people with disabilities, said city spokeswoman Krithika Prashant.

Colorado Springs became the first city in Colorado and the ninth in the nation to adopt the new symbol, said Siri Everett, a speech language therapist and council member of the First Congregational Church of Colorado Springs.

“This new symbol reimagines the old international symbol, which was passive and static, and presents an image of people with disabilities as athletic and powerful, and awakens the community to the idea of full participation by every member of the community,” Everett said.

Harrison-Hall recovered the use of her upper body after a spinal cord injury in 1997. She said that for Colorado Springs to become a city that is completely inclusive of people with disabilities, all buildings and facilities should be accessible.

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Contact Andrea Sinclair

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Mayor Steve Bach smooths out a new Handicapped symbol he placed on a parking space outside the City Administration Building Tuesday, August 19, 2014. A city statement said the new symbol was created by two designers in Boston and “…reflects our society’s evolving perceptions of people with disabilities as being powerful, athletic and autonomous. Photo by Mark Reis, The Gazette

MARK REIS