Suit Filed Against "U" for Stadium Renovation Plans

Lack of wheelchair accessible seats is discriminatory, group claims

The Michigan Daily

By Jessica Vosgerchian, Daily Staff Reporter
Posted April 17, 2007

The Michigan Paralyzed Veterans of America filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the University accusing it of moving forward with renovations to Michigan Stadium that fail to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

By filing the suit, the group delivered on the vow it made earlier this year to legally challenge the plans - which include the controversial addition of luxury boxes to the stadium's skyline - if they aren't changed to meet ADA standards.

The group is suing before the upcoming final approval vote by the University Board of Regents in an attempt to prevent work on the stadium from picking up steam, said Richard Bernstein, the lawyer who filed the complaint on the ADA's behalf and a political science lecturer at the University.

"If we didn't move on it today the University would do all this work on the stadium and raise a defense," Bernstein said. "They would be able to say, "Well, you filed too late, we already did all this work."

The University is currently repairing some of the stadium bowl's concrete, which University spokeswoman Kelly Cunningham said constitutes routine maintenance and does not require bringing the entire stadium into compliance with ADA guidelines. The 80-year-old stadium has been exempted from ADA compliance to this point because it was constructed before the ADA was passed.

But the MPVA's complaint argues the full extent of the proposed renovations would trigger an obligation to bring the original stadium bowl up to code.

Stadium-wide compliance would include making 1 percent of all seating handicap accessible and offering a variety of seating locations and ticket prices for disabled visitors. For the officially 107,501-seat stadium, that means there must be at least 1,000 handicap accessible seats.

Cunningham said only new construction on the stadium - like the luxury boxes and additional bleachers - is required to meet ADA guidelines. Within the expansion, more than 1 percent of seating will be handicap accessible, she said.

The number of wheelchair-accessible seats in the stadium will increase from 90 to 282.

But the additional seating doesn't satisfy the plaintiffs because the seats are situated in only a few places and fail to accommodate companions of wheelchair users, Bernstein said. In the renovation plans, one regular seat accompanies each wheelchair spot.

The plans place 72 accessible seats together on the stadium's west side and 38 indoor and outdoor seats on its east side.

Bernstein said the University is discriminating against disabled people by refusing to take their concerns into account and going forward with renovations that treat them like "second class citizens."

"President (Mary Sue) Coleman says diversity is her main goal, but the main ceremonial house is not welcoming to all people in the community," he said.

Cunningham said the University has tried to include the interests of disabled people from the beginning of the process by contracting architects with ADA expertise.

The MPVA wants the renovations to follow the example of those at the University of Notre Dame. After recent renovations, Notre Dame Stadium provides more than 400 wheelchair-accessible seats in 17 different locations.

"If you look at Notre Dame and the University of Michigan, their stadiums were built by the same architect in the same era. All we're asking is U of M do what Notre Dame did," Bernstein said.

John Pollack, founder of Save the Big House, a coalition against the proposed renovations, said his counter-proposal (which excludes luxury boxes) would better serve the disabled.

He said the University is trying to subsidize the loss in revenue that would be caused by luxury boxes by increasing regular bleacher seating and overlooking the interests of disabled people.

"This is being driven by an obsession with luxury boxes," he said. "The University is effectively arguing that it is more important to provide seating for 1,500 people in luxury boxes than it is to provide seating for people with disabilities as required by law."

Cunningham said the skyboxes have nothing to do with wheelchair accessible seating.

"It's not luxury seats versus accessible seats," she said. "Providing accessible seating has always been integral to our plan."