Grill Maker Sees Grate Opening

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A few years ago, Lynx Grills Inc. Chief Executive Jim Buch got a call from a wheelchair-using customer who wanted to know if Buch could modify one of his grills to make it easier for the customer to use.

“We’re not usually in the business of making custom grills,” Buch said. “But this interested us, so we listened and started some engineering.”

The customer died before the Downey company perfected a prototype, but his request was ultimately fulfilled. In April, Lynx began selling what it bills as the first freestanding Americans With Disabilities Act-compliant grill. Designed for those in wheelchairs, it costs between $3,000 and $3,600 at retail, or a little less than the price of a comparable non-ADA-compliant model.

A team of six in-house engineers modified Lynx’s Sedona grill to ADA standards. There are no ADA guidelines specifically for home grills, so engineers looked at guidelines for stoves and other appliances.

They added wheels and a toe-kick to the bottom of the grill to make room for a wheelchair’s footrest. They lowered the working surface of the grill from 35 inches – just above the ADA’s height limit for kitchen work surfaces – to 32 inches. Finally, they added an adjustable handle and a mechanism that assists in closing the hood.

Buch said the company had not yet assessed sales of the grill, but had received plenty of tear-inducing letters from disabled people – military veterans in particular – who love to barbeque.

“We knew all along this wasn’t a product we would evaluate on numbers,” he said. “There are individuals who have made supreme sacrifices in Afghanistan or Iraq and are wheelchair bound yet in the prime of their lives. For us, internally, this has been a labor of love.”

– Hannah Miet

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