ADA Release

[Guest guest]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2002

WWW.USDOJ.GOV

CRT

(202) 514-2008

TDD (202) 514-1888

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT REACHES AGREEMENT WITH BRANSON THEATER TO BECOME MORE

ACCESSIBLE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The White House Theater in Branson, Missouri, reached an

agreement today with the Justice Department, ensuring the theater's

accessibility to patrons with disabilities.

The agreement resolves an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance

review conducted by the Justice Department of the White House Theater

complex, formerly the Charley Pride Theatre and the Promise Theatre. Both

the current owners of the White House Theater and the former owners of the

complex, Empire Bank of Springfield, Missouri, cooperated with the

Department in identifying architectural barriers to access for persons with

disabilities, including persons who use wheelchairs, in the theatre's

parking lot, lobby, public restrooms, auditorium, and backstage area, and in

agreeing to remove these barriers. The White House Theater also agreed to

comply with the ADA Standards for Accessible Design in renovating the

theater auditorium to include dinner theater seating.

" I appreciate the efforts of the White House Theater to identify and remove

barriers to access for its patrons with disabilities, " said Assistant

Attorney General for Civil Rights Ralph F. Boyd, Jr. " I hope that others in

the Branson entertainment community will follow the lead of the White House

Theater in increasing accessibility. "

The Justice Department has negotiated other settlement agreements resolving

ADA violations with other Branson-area public accommodations, including

Bobby Vinton's Blue Velvet Theatre, Andy ' Moon River Theatre, and

the Paradise Grill. Under today's agreement, the White House Theater, which

will open for the 2002 season on May 1 and offer customers a combination

dining/entertainment experience, will take the following steps to increase

accessibility to its facilities:

providing accessible ticket counters, concession counters, drinking

fountains, and pay telephones in the theater lobby;

installing accessibility features in the men's and women's public restrooms;

installing at least 20 new designated wheelchair seating areas and fixed

companion seating in the theater auditorium;

implementing new ticketing policies for customers for disabilities, so

designated wheelchair seating is held for customers with disabilities until

all other seating is full, and so customers with disabilities never pay more

for accessible seating than non-disabled customers pay; and

renovating backstage dressing rooms and restrooms so that they are

accessible to performers with disabilities.

Title III of the ADA prohibits discrimination by public accommodations and

commercial facilities against persons with disabilities. In particular, it

requires all existing facilities remove architectural barriers where removal

of such barriers is readily achievable, and that altered areas of renovated

facilities comply with the ADA Standards for Accessible Design to the

maximum extent feasible. People interested in finding out more about the ADA

or the agreement can call the toll-free ADA Information Line at (800)

514-0301 or (800) 514-0383 (TDD), or access the ADA home page at:

http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm.

Source: http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2002/March/02_crt_143.htm