(upbeat rock music) - [Tom] On this awesome episode of "UTR," we show you why Lansing is so accessible.

We'll hit Heritage Hall at the capitol, Impression 5 Science Center, and play at Michigan's all-inclusive playground.

We'll even take you to High Caliber Karting for a handy capable go-kart.

Get ready to explore the cool people, places, and things that make Lansing so inclusive.

(upbeat rock music) (track rattling) (upbeat music) - [Rider] Woohoo!

(rider laughs) (upbeat music) - [Narrator] A visit to the Stahls auto collection will take you back to a time when cars were more than just a way to get around.

A fantastic assortment of gas pumps, neon signs, and automated music machines dating back 150 years that must be seen and heard.

Info at stahlsauto.com.

- I've been around the world, but there's one place I keep coming back to, and the more I explore, the more I realize it's the place to be.

I'm Tom Daldin, and this is "Under the Radar Michigan."

(upbeat rock music) Hey everybody, we're in Lansing, our state capitol, where Michigan manages, well, Michigan.

And it's also where we managed to find four new reasons for you to come and explore this great city.

That's right, if you wanna discover where Michigan truly gets its sense of place, this is a place where you need to spend some time.

Not only does Lansing have a beautiful and walkable downtown, it's also got an authentic old town with great shops and eateries that's an absolute blast to spend the day.

And the beautiful Grand River runs right through the heart of the city, which makes Lansing a great place to discover, whether you're floating up or downtown.

And Lansing continues to evolve and attract more innovative and motivated young people by offering great new restaurants, comfy green spaces, and cool urban places to connect.

Heck, they even have the Lansing Lugnuts, a mighty minor league baseball team with a state-of-the-art stadium right in town, a bonus.

Yep, if you're looking for an exciting, fun, and incredibly historic place to live, eat, stay, or just play for the day, look no further than Lansing.

Oh, and speaking of looking for Lansing, let's take a moment to remind ourselves where it is.

Lovely Lansing is located smack dab in the middle of Michigan's magnificent mitten.

Simple enough.

(screen whooshes) Now before we get going, I thought it would be a good idea to talk to the one and only Julie Pingston about some of the really progressive things they're doing here in the Lansing area to make the entire region more sensory inclusive.

You know, Julie, you guys in Lansing are doing so much to make this entire city more inclusive.

But for those who aren't that aware of the terminology or what it means, explain sensory inclusion or sensory, explain that to me.

- Well, it is a complicated subject to talk about, but I think most people understand that sometimes you have a moment, and everything is overwhelming, and you can't deal with it, and then some people have that every day of their life, based on certain factors.

So we're in a historic building with really high ceilings.

This could be a problem for somebody that has that echo and hears that in their head and in their ears differently.

So being inclusive is trying to create opportunities that everyone else can experience what we might experience as someone who's not faced with those issues, so.

- You're right, it's so easy for people like us because we just navigate and negotiate the world.

But there are a lot of people that they're not that lucky.

- Right.

- So it's nice, like you said here at the state capitol, which is why we're in such beautiful surroundings, why we're whispering, because the echo is so amazing here.

But yeah, you guys are doing so much here.

Like we were talking a minute ago about the Potter Park Zoo here even has all kinds of things for kids.

I mean, explain that.

- Right, so the Potter Park Zoo has been working through sensory friendly issues for probably 15 to 20 years, because if you wanna come to the zoo, you wanna come as an entire family.

But if one family member has some kind of sensitivity, they can't come because there, it might be smells.

I mean, we all might have a fear of the smells at the zoo, right?

But there's just a lot of unusual things that happen, and you're outside, there's a lot of people.

So how can we make that experience better?

So we have in all of our attractions a toolkit so that if you come in and something does get overwhelming, the toolkit has sensory canceling headphones, so that you can borrow those and walk through the facility and enjoy it with your family.

I think that's the main goal is that people can come to our community, and travel, and be a part of it together and it's welcoming to all.

- Yeah, I sincerely want to thank you and I appreciate the initiative and what you guys are doing.

I don't know whose idea it was, you can take credit if you want, but it's so, because I have friends and relatives who have family members who it's, they don't, like I said before, they don't negotiate the world like we do, and it's a bit of a challenge for them.

And the fact that we're actually now, we're evolving as a species to the point where we're actually concerned about these people.

We're not just throwing them aside or just saying deal with it.

So I thank you so much for what you guys are doing, for Lansing and for the entire state.

- Right, and that's been the great thing about it, we have done a lot here, and we're able to spread that message throughout the state.

And I've spoken at national conferences as well because it's important to that experience everywhere you go.

(upbeat music) (screen whooshes) - Yep, you heard Julie right.

So on this special edition of "UTR," we're gonna feature destinations that are helping to make the world a more inclusive and accessible place.

And just one of those places is the new Heritage Hall right here at the state capitol.

It's an awesome and educational place where you can learn all about our state's history and our form of government, not to mention the incredible structure they call our state capitol.

It's also a place where if you have any special needs, you don't need to worry because they've got you covered.

Now, to help me navigate this nice and super inclusive place, I checked in with Cambray Sampson.

Now, Cambray.

Cool name by the way.

- Thanks.

- Visiting the state capitol just got a whole lot cooler.

- Yes.

- I mean, this whole Heritage Hall is amazing.

- Thank you.

Yes, it's a great space where we get started with all of our guided tours.

We've got historic exhibits, a conservation lab where we take care of historic artifacts.

It also provides a nice space for some larger group meetings, committee meetings, groups from the outside coming in, things like that.

- Well, could you send them to my house when they're done, by the way?

But anyway, but, and also kind of the underlying theme of this whole show is making sure that places are inclusive and accessible, and you're doing some groundbreaking stuff here as well to make sure that everybody, no matter how you perceive the world or negotiate the world, that they can come here and still have a great experience, right?

- Yes, so we've got several different things.

First of all, the building's handicap accessible, elevators everywhere to get to different places in the building.

But we also offer things for visitors with vision impairments.

So we have a braille version of our self-guided tour book, as well as some models that people can feel to kind of get an idea for the layout of the various chambers.

- If you're sight impairment.

- Outside of the, yeah, so for sight impairment, so the outside of the building looks like.

We have colorblind corrective lenses, because we have nine acres of decorative artwork in the building, so if you're red-green colorblind, you can check those out.

We have manipulatives for people with autism that might help calm them in kind of a new environment, and various things like that as well.

- It's so admirable, it's such a great thing to do that for people.

It shows that we as a species are evolving.

I mean, because we are starting to be more concerned about everybody, making sure that everyone can come here and have wonderful experience.

- [Cambray] Yes, yes.

We want everybody to come to their capitol building, 'cause this is the people's building, and so we wanna make it a good experience for everyone.

- And speaking of pride, what does it feel like personally to live and work in the Lansing area?

I mean, Lansing has always been great, but in the last 10 years, it has just blossomed.

- It's really amazing.

I mean, I walk into this building almost every day, and you can't do something like walk through the rotunda without looking up, when the scaffolding's not in the way, or you know, walking up to the building, taking a picture and stuff.

There's just so many cool things to do around here.

You can visit so many different museums, and you know, go to lectures, and a baseball game and things like that.

There's just so much here that you can go and do in the area as well.

- And on a day like today, a beautiful day with white puff clouds, blue sky, to stand out on the lawn there and look up at this capitol, it's like you get, you kinda well up.

You kinda get this sense of pride like, wow, this is my state capitol.

This is, yeah, so.

- Exactly.

- Yeah.

And you get to do that every day.

- Yes, yes.

It's wonderful, and like I said, it's exactly what it was designed to be, to be a place to show off the state, and to really say we've arrived here in the state of Michigan.

- [Tom] What an amazing tour we took.

I'm telling you, I've been to our glorious state capitol a few times now, but every time I go, I learn something new.

It's a great day trip that'll fill you full of knowledge, pride, and wonderment.

And now no matter who you are, or how you perceive or negotiate the world, you can come here and be in good hands.

And speaking of good hands, time now to hand things over to Erik Larson at Impression 5 Science Center.

(screen whooshes) And action!

- Where's Tom?

- Oh, hey Erik.

Sorry.

Sorry I'm late.

Look, there's a voiceover part that I was supposed to read, an introduction to this piece, so why don't you listen to the voiceover and we'll be right back.

Impression 5 Science Center is an incredible place where kids of all kinds can come and discover hands-on all about the miraculous world around them.

It's a dynamic, interactive space for entire families to play, create, and challenge their understanding of science.

In short, explore, have fun and learn.

I don't even know where to start.

I'm so blown away with this place.

I wasn't sure what to expect, 'cause I've been to similar places before, but I'm overwhelmed with the scope, the breadth, the creativity here, the amount of exhibits you have for kids.

I just wish I knew this place where my kids were little, 'cause you've been here since when?

- 1972.

- [Tom] My gosh, my kids weren't even born then.

- Nor was I.

(laughs) - Wow.

I mean, how did this place happen?

- It was the dream of a woman by the name of Marilynne Eichinger, who thought that children should have a more interactive experience exploring the scientific wonders of the world they live in.

And so she went off on this vision to create a space for that.

Impression 5 was one of the first I believe five science centers that opened across the country, opened right here in downtown Lansing, and we just turned 52 this year.

- And the amount, like I said, there are so many hidden nooks and crannies, and different experiences that kids, everything from the natural world to, I mean, from space to the earth, to onto the ocean, to is just, who comes up with all these concepts?

- That's a great question.

Many of the ideas that come to our exhibits team are internal.

So things that they're like, you know, we should really build an exhibit about this, or this is a new technology we wanted to explore.

Some of it comes from our members and our visitors.

You know, you should have an exhibit about natural history, or natural environmental science, and so those things come from all different directions.

And then some of it comes from our funders.

We're right now creating an exhibit called Megawatt that it tells the full energy story from fossil fuels to renewables, and that was an idea that a funder brought to us and said, "We should really start talking about this."

- And getting into the topic of accessibility and inclusiveness.

I mean, you guys have really gone way out of your way to make sure every kid, no matter how they negotiate the world or how they experience reality, they can come here and experience something.

- It's important for places like Impression 5 to realize that there are some people in your community that feel comfortable already about going to a place like a museum, and there are folks that don't.

And so you have to do the work to figure out what those barriers are, and then be passionate and committed to tearing as many of those barriers down as possible, because at the end of the day, we're here to encourage youth to hone their STEM skills and to learn about the world they live in.

- You're expanding to another historic building right next door.

- We are.

We just turned 50 in 2022, had a massive fundraising campaign where we raised about $5 million.

That included money for us to actually acquire the building right next door, and we're going to turn that into a Teen Tech Hub, where children 14 to 17 can explore things like engineering, coding, VR, AR, AI, to start to hone their STEM skills, so they can apply those skills for whatever pathway they're going.

- That's what I love about this place too is you've got the past, you've got the history, and you've got the future of all these kids because you're pumping so much knowledge and creativity, and you're stimulate, you're making, like you said, we're all born scientists until, you know, for some reason a lot of people are dumbed down like me.

I've become a TV show host.

But yeah, I mean, I can't, A, thank you enough or tell you how blown away I am about this place.

- Yeah, well, we appreciate you coming to visit us.

We hope that other people see your show and wanna make the trip to Lansing and explore not only Impression 5 but all the cultural assets here available for them.

- Yep, in a word, this place is wow.

I sincerely wish I could have brought my kids here when they were little because I can't think of a better or more fun place to learn and experience all the fun facts about the world around us.

If you're looking for an amazing place that will expand your kids' consciousness by literally using all their senses, it makes perfect sense to take them to Impression 5 Science Center in Lansing.

Trust me, their cerebral cortex will thank you for it.

Oh, and if your child has any special needs, at Impression 5, they'll take extra special care of them.

Once again, bonus.

(upbeat music) (screen whooshes) You know, we all like to play, and everybody should be able to play.

So why doesn't somebody build a playground that's accessible to everybody?

Well, here in Lansing, that's exactly what they did.

That's right.

Play Michigan is the first universally accessible playground in the region.

It's designed to promote inclusivity and the health and wellbeing of all children.

And because the playground is fully accessible, even parents and grandparents who have physical limitations themselves are also able to play with their children and grandchildren.

This huge state-of-the-art playground in downtown Lansing is designed to meet the needs of children with physical, sensory and developmental disabilities.

It's got wheelchair accessible play equipment, specialty swings and ramps, sensory play areas, and other amazing features.

You'll find Play Michigan at the same place I found Jessica Donahue, at the corner of Grand at Saginaw, right across from Lansing Community College.

You know, when I was a kid, all the playground equipment was like metal piping bars, probably with lead paint on it, on asphalt, and if kids got hurt it was just like, oh well.

And the poor kids who had any special needs at all were just pushed off to the side and couldn't participate.

This is a masterpiece.

How did this happen?

- This happened thanks to the idea of a couple donors of ours.

They came to us and they really just wanted a space, 'cause they had heard about one in an outside area just for all kids to come together and play.

- Well, it's great.

We pull up and everybody here is enjoying this space, and it's right downtown.

It's right on the, I'm assuming that's the Grand River.

- Yes.

- It's right on the river.

What a beautiful spot.

But what do you think this means for families who have special needs, who, you know, who needs something like this?

- Yeah, so ever since we first had the idea presented and started to go with it, we surveyed various families of children with disabilities, and got all their feedback right from the get go, and heard how life-changing this would be, just to be able to go somewhere and not have to worry about their children climbing on equipment that they're not meant to be on, that they can't handle with a physical or mental disability.

So we've heard a lot of great feedback from it about just how life changing it is.

- And these kids, you can see it on their faces, when they see a place like this, it's like, oh my gosh, this is for us.

The community made this happen, right?

- Absolutely.

Yep.

It was fully funded by private dollars, private donors and corporations who just wanted to come in and help make this universally accessible playground possible.

- Yeah, and what does it mean to you on a personal level to be involved in something like this?

- Personally, it has just been eye-opening for one, because being able-bodied, you don't think about these things normally.

And then it's also just been so heartwarming to see the children come here and play, and then hear the stories about how they can come here still on crutches, in a wheelchair and play.

And even my nephew has a best friend who's in a wheelchair, and they have come here together and been able to play.

- That's a great point is you can come with a friend who needs something like this and you can play together.

We all like to, it's the macho American thing, we all like to say that, "Well, when I was a kid, I didn't wear a helmet.

We didn't have seat belts.

We had playgrounds full of metal, and I turned out okay."

Well, maybe you did, but a lot of kids got hurt, and a lot of kids couldn't participate.

Now it's like, like I've been saying in every segment, we're evolving as a species, and now we're trying to make sure that it's inclusive and accessible to everybody, and that is what, as human beings, that's our duty.

- Absolutely.

- Now, if you want even more proof how important and incredible this playground truly is, just take a listen to the harmonious Hargrove family.

So what does it mean to you personally and your family to have a playground like this for your kids?

- Well, we enjoy it because most places that we go, we have to plan for it.

We have to make sure we have all the right equipment to get Caity around.

But here we just show up and she's able to go down slides, and get on the merry-go-round, and a lot of other things that she's not able to enjoy at other parks, so.

- And is it cool that you get to actually play with your sisters?

- Yeah 'cause- - Don't sound too enthused.

- Well, yeah, because there's a lot of like different equipment that helps me use the stuff I wasn't able to use at any other different parks, because this one is for adaptive kids and people like that.

So I'm able to get around easier because of this park, so we come here a lot.

- That is awesome.

You know, it really does my heart good to see steps like this are being taken to make sure that everyone, and I mean everyone, has the opportunity to have fun and enjoy life.

I mean, we're all in this together, so we may as well play together.

If you've got a little one in your life who could use some extra consideration while learning to conquer this crazy world, spend a day at Play Michigan All Inclusive Playground.

All you need to bring is your imagination and sense of adventure.

The rest is all here waiting for you.

(screen whooshes) Now if you remember back in episode 1111, we came here to High Caliber Karting in Okemos to have the time of our lives at their super awesome indoor go-kart track.

Yep, Jim and I had a crazy fun race with the one and only Dave Lorenz, and I believe Dave actually even won.

Well, guess what?

They've added a handy capable go-kart, so even more people can beat me now.

Yay?

That's right, not only does High Caliber Karting have thousands of square feet of racing, games, entertainment, food, and drink, now they've added rip roaring fast electric handicap accessible go-karts.

Yep, if you've got the need for speed but you haven't been able to access it yet, get ready for the green light because these things are awesome.

Now to bring me up to speed, pun intended, on these new handy capable karts, I checked in with High Caliber's master of mischief Jacki Krumnow.

You know Jacki, every time I try to describe this place to somebody, I'm at a loss for word.

- Oh yeah.

- It's just, it's so huge.

I mean just give me your elevator speech, just describe this place.

- Yeah, so high caliber is the number one place for fun in Lansing.

That's my quickest elevator pitch.

- I think in the universe actually.

- But, I mean, we're aiming for the whole universe.

But I mean, we have go-kart racing, ax throwing, a rage room, gellyball battles, archery tag.

Anything that you can really think of with excitement is all located right here for a phenomenal day out on the town.

- Just to walk through here, it's mind boggling the amount of fun that you guys have smashed into, well, actually this place is pretty huge.

The footprint's pretty big.

- [Jacki] You get your steps in.

- Yeah, exactly.

Well, another reason we're here today is because, you know, full disclosure, I've been here before, I've raced on the track.

You actually have, what do you, you call them handy capable?

- It's called a handy capable go-kart.

- Handy capable go-kart.

- Which is meant for wheelchair users who still have the ability to have their arm extremities working for them.

And it is literally, instead of using foot pedals, they are hand pedals behind the steering wheel for both your brake and your accelerator.

So they are now able to have a fun time with their friends racing in that go-kart, like anyone else.

It still reaches the same speeds, it handles the same way.

It is an absolute delight.

And we even have had a person join our go-kart league who is a wheelchair user, and be able to top in the top three while racing that one, so.

- See, that's so commendable because I mean, in this day and age, as we evolve as a human species, it's like we're trying to be more inclusive.

- We really are, yeah.

- Yeah and trying to make sure that everybody has all the life experiences that we deserve.

And the fact that you're doing that is, well, again, it's commendable that you've got these handy capable, no- - Handy capable go-karts.

- Go-karts.

- Or you can just call it the wheelchair user go-kart as well too, that's also- - I like the handy capable go-kart.

That's pretty cool.

But yeah, it's just, I, like I said, it's commendable that you do that for people.

- Yeah, so how it came about was actually Jordan, our owner and CEO had gotten in a terrible car accident during COVID or right at the end of COVID, and he realized he was no longer able to do one of his favorite things, go-kart racing, because it wasn't built for him to be able to do that as he was in a wheelchair for six months.

So that is when he started working on that with a couple of the other team members here at High Caliber, and they were able to retrofit a previous go-kart into the handy capable go-kart, which is now available.

You can learn more about it online.

You can always call in advance too to make sure like it's up and operating, but it always is, it's not a problem.

But you know, we're ADA compliant in other areas as well too.

Ax throwing is large enough where the wheelchairs can go between the lanes.

Throw bowling is good too, and all of our arcade is large enough that a person with a wheelchair can maneuver between all of that.

- You guys are doing everything right.

- Yeah.

Thank you so much.

- Blow it up.

(Tom whooshes) Well, now that I was in the know, it was time to see this new handy capable cart in action.

So High Calibers own Trent Johannsen lowered in, turned on and did a whole bunch of hot laps for us to behold.

And I couldn't hold back my amazement.

This awesome machine is clean, quiet, and faster than the "UTR" guys in a buffet line.

Man, that thing moves, and I would've challenged Trent to race for sure, but I think we all know how that would've turned out.

So if you get that feeling you wanna go fast, check out High Caliber Karting in Okemos, because now with their handy capable carts, even more people can enjoy this thrilling activity.

And speaking of thrilling activities, Lansing is full of them, so my suggestion is to come to our awesome, inclusive and accessible state capitol, and discover or rediscover this great city, 'cause if you do, trust me, you'll be back.

(track rattling) (upbeat music) - [Rider] Woohoo!

(rider laughs) (upbeat music) - [Narrator] A visit to the Stahls auto collection will take you back to a time when cars were more than just a way to get around.

A fantastic assortment of gas pumps, neon signs, and automated music machines dating back 150 years that must be seen and heard.

Info at stahlsauto.com.

(upbeat rock music) (gentle music)