YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Iron and String Life Enhancement (ISLE) and Purple Cat President, Jimmy Suttman is voicing concern over the lack of wheelchair accessibility at the McGuffey Wildlife Preserve.

ISLE is a family or organizations including The Purple Cat and Golden String Inc., which have provided services for adults with disabilities in the Mahoning Valley for over two decades.

In his letter, Suttman expressed concern with the removal of the dock and the lack of maintenance at the pond at McGuffey Wildlife Preserve stating that it "denies those living with a disability access to the only park facility in the northeast part of Mahoning County that has a water feature."

Suttman tells 21 News he was hoping to use the wildlife preserve for its Gabba Camp project due to its proximity both the Purple Cat Day Program and Golden String's 30-acre resort development.

"This is something that directly could benefit folks who are wheelchair-bound and my folks who are attending Gabba Camp," Suttman said.

However, as it stands, the preserve has fallen into a "state of disrepair" and is no longer wheelchair accessible.

Suttman went on to request the metroparks to transfer ownership of the wildlife preserve to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR). This would allow it to become a State Nature Preserve.

"A State Nature Preserve will promote tourism, spark economic development, bring state dollars to the Valley and add prestige to the county," Suttman wrote in his letter.

Suttman says he's already received inquiries from as far as Tennessee and Massachusetts due to the accessibility that Gabba Camp would offer those living with a disability.