Feds: Disabled U-M fans had to be carried to seats

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Feds: Disabled U-M fans had to be carried to seats

The Ann Arbor News October 31, 2007

http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2007/10/stadium.html

BY DAVE GERSHMAN

The Ann Arbor News

A federal report that examined violations of federal disability laws

at Michigan Stadium paints a very different picture of the game-day

experience for disabled fans than the one it says was presented by

University of Michigan officials.

" Every ticketholder who has required an accessible seat has been

accommodated. " - U-M spokeswoman Cunningham

U.S. Department of Education officials cite reports of disabled fans

who gave up attending football games after they had bad experiences

with cramped and limited seating that was sometimes oversold.

Others suffered friction burns on their hands from tightly gripping

the wheels of their wheelchairs in order to get down the improperly

graded ramps accessing their seats, the report says. Still other

disabled fans, invited as guests to watch the games from the U-M

regents area in the press box, had to be carried up a staircase to

reach their seats, according to the investigation, which dates to

1999 and was reopened in 2004.

In its 37-page letter of findings, dated Friday, the DOE's Office of

Civil Rights said Michigan Stadium discriminates against disabled

fans, and violates Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act

of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

U-M officials continue to maintain, as they have during the DOE

investigation, that the university is committed to ensuring the

accessibility of the stadium to all fans who require accessible

seating. In a statement, U-M spokeswoman Cunningham took issue

with the report, saying it includes " misinformation " and that the

stadium is in full compliance with ADA regulations.

" Every ticketholder who has required an accessible seat has been

accommodated, " Cunningham said.

If U-M doesn't respond to the report in 10 calendar days, the DOE

has the power to take steps that include withholding millions in

federal financial aid to U-M, or turning to the U.S. Justice

Department to enforce its findings by filing a lawsuit.

However, Moss, an expert on disability law at Wayne State

University School of Law, said it is " very unlikely " that the

federal government would withhold money.

" The Department of Education knows that ultimately the University of

Michigan is going to comply, or they're going to go to court to

order them to comply, " he said.

Complaints prompt probe

The investigation began in 1999 after a man complained that he had

taken his father to a football game during the 1997 season and

ushers were unable to show them the location of a handicapped

accessible bathroom. The man's father soiled himself before he could

reach an accessible bathroom.

In 2005, another two complaints about accessibility issues at the

stadium were incorporated into the investigation.

U-M had resolved the original complaint by agreeing in 2000 to

consider additional wheelchair seating in any renovation or

alteration of the stadium.

The DOE said it reopened its investigation in 2004 after officials

touring the stadium saw additional concrete projects, which it

viewed as more major renovations that triggered the legal criteria

requiring creation of additional wheelchair seating. U-M has said it

considered those projects to be repairs, because the seats were

replaced exactly as they had been, so no additional wheelchair

seating was required under the law.

Investigators for the DOE interviewed U-M administrators, stadium

staff, the complainants and disabled fans, and visited the stadium

on game days.

The DOE found that U-M could have - and should have - added more

wheelchair seating during the series of projects since 1991 that

demolished and replaced concrete terraces and seating benches in the

stadium bowl. Including about 6,800 seats that were added to the

bowl, the concrete projects affected or altered more than 90,000

seats since 1991.

" ... as the university demolished and reconstructed each concrete

section throughout the years, it was structurally practicable for

the university to add wheelchair seating around the stadium at the

upper portal level (approximately Row 72) and at the lower portal

entry level (approximately Row 54), " the report states. That would

provide easily accessible seating with a variety of views of the

football field.

The DOE also says U-M needs to alter ramps, concourses and entrances

to the stadium; and build more handicapped bathrooms and modify the

five designated handicapped bathrooms inside the stadium. Concession

stands also need to be made accessible to people in wheelchairs, the

report states.

The DOE also said U-M " impeded " its requests for information about

the construction, but Cunningham said the university complied

throughout the process.

" We were therefore surprised and disappointed that they unexpectedly

issued a negative statement that not only contains misinformation

but also ignores the many measures we have already taken - as well

as those we are now undertaking - to enhance access to the Michigan

Stadium, " she said in her written statement.

Another challenge

The DOE report comes as U-M gets ready to spend $226 million on a

major renovation of the stadium. Construction is about to begin on a

new press box, luxury boxes and club seats, all of which will be

accessible to the highest legal standard, U-M has said. Other

amenities include wider aisles in the bowl - which U-M says does not

trigger the provision to increase accessibility in the bowl - and

more concessions and bathroom facilities. A disabled veterans group

has sued to stop the project, saying it doesn't fix existing

accessibility problems.

Before the report was issued, U-M had announced that about 14

wheelchair seats will be added to the stadium bowl for the next

football season. The $226 million renovation project also includes

72 more wheelchair seats along the top row of the western side of

the stadium bowl. Wheelchair seats will be available in the pricier

luxury boxes and 3,200 club seats. Including all of the additional

seating, the renovated stadium will open with 315 more wheelchair

seats than it has today.

" Improvements specified under the current plan would greatly exceed

projected demand from fans, " she said.