Reprinted with permission of The Virginian-Pilot
The corrections will improve access for disabled people.
The Virginian Pilot
BY TOM HOLDEN
STAFF WRITER
July 10, 1997
VIRGINIA BEACH - Six weeks after admitting the design of the
GTE Virginia Beach Amphitheater failed to comply with the Americans with
Disabilities Act, the city and the Endpendence Center now have agreed on specific
architectural changes to the $18.5 million concert venue.
The agreement calls for a range of design changes to nearly
every section of the amphitheater - from parking and concessions to seating -
and once completed should allow disabled patrons to more fully enjoy shows.
But the agreement does not address questions about accessibility to the lawn, a major point of contention for the disabled community and a source of continuing frustration.
Some corrections to the facility are already under way. The
agreement, which was presented on Wednesday to Judge Tommy Miller in U.S.
District Court in Norfolk, was intended to finalize the lawsuit, held in
December.
"We're correcting some things that were put in place
wrong, and some of these things should have been caught sooner," said
Virginia Beach Deputy City Attorney Richard Beaver.
Among the major changes being made are:
- Reconfiguring the parking lot so that disabled people are
closer to walkways leading into the amphitheater.
- Increasing the amount of seating designated for people in
wheelchairs in the two main sections of seating under the shed, while
continuing to provide wheelchair accessible spaces in the orchestra area in
front.
- Providing each restroom with mirrors, dispensers and other
amenities that do not protrude into traffic areas.
- Making each pedestrian ramp accessible to people with
disabilities, except for those walkways up the hill to the lawn area.
- Equipping public telephones with volume controls and
making them usable for those with hearing aids, while also providing a fixed
TDD/TTY port at an indoor location or providing a portable one and a shelf near
a phone for its use.
- Adjusting merchandise and food-booths to provide lower
counters for transactions for people with disabilities.
Beaver said that some aspects of the amphitheater's design,
such as adding crushed red gravel to some concession areas for aesthetic
purposes, already have been paved over because of difficulties posed to people
in wheelchairs.
Jeffrey Beaton, an attorney who argued on behalf of the
Endependence Center, said the agreement nearly brings the amphitheater into
full ADA compliance, with the lawn being a notable exception.
"The position taken by the city was the law does not
require it, and the plaintiffs say it did. So we agreed to disagree," he
said.
Beaton said it was disheartening for some within the
disabled community that the suit was settled, but economics and the likely high
cost of a federal trial forced the issue.
"You can't sell civil rights, be cause they belong to
an entire group of people in a protected class," Beaton said.
"Unfortunately, these plaintiffs are not bottomless in their ability to
pay. They went as far as they could."
Richard L. DiPeppe, the director of community services for
the Endependence Center, said, "We're certainly glad it's done. We feel it
is an appropriate vindication of our position that the city has admitted
wrongdoing in its noncompliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
"I don't see this as a victory," he added.
"It is simply a matter of getting the city to move closer to compliance
and understand that there are consequences when they are not."