Accessibility Services Update

by Rob Ingraham

Dominic Marinelli (standing center), United Spinal’s director of Accessibility Services, talks to a Yankees fan about accessibility features he’d like to see in the new Yankees’ stadium, scehduled to open in time for the 2009 season.

NY Yankees Select United Spinal to Oversee Accessibility Compliance at New Stadium

Despite the many player records that New York Yankees’ legendary first baseman Lou Gehrig compiled at Yankee Stadium, his name is also forever linked with one of the most insidious spinal cord diseases— amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). While the disease was known (but little understood) in the medical community of the 1930′s, it was not until Gehrig succumbed that the general public discovered ALS and gave it the eponym, “Lou Gehrig’s Disease.”

In Gehrig’s day there were very few, if any, public places that strove to accommodate people in wheelchairs, least of all sports facilities, and it took almost half a century after Gehrig’s death before the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed.

Now, under the leadership of Director Dominic Marinelli, United Spinal Association’s Accessibility Services will ensure that the new stadium complies with all ADA requirements in time for Opening Day of the 2009 Season. Working closely with stadium architects Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum (HOK) Sport+Venue+Event, project managers Tishman Speyer Properties, and the Yankees’ ADA Manager Carol Laurenzano, Marinelli predicts United Spinal will help create “the most accessible ballpark in the country.”

In an effort to gather feedback on preliminary elements of the design, United Spinal hosted the first of what will be a series of informational meetings for fans with disabilities at Yankee Stadium on September 28th. The meeting drew an overflow crowd of well-informed participants to the Yankees’ “Great Moments Room.” Representatives from HOK provided a general overview of the new facility, after which Marinelli and HOK executive Ed Roether led a discussion on the general concerns of those in attendance.

United Spinal’s Associate Executive Director Terry Moakley opened the meeting by saying, “We know you’re Yankee fans and we know you’re going to be vocal, and that’s exactly what we want today. We want to get the accessibility features perfect for the new Yankee Stadium and we can’t do that without your help.”

One of the biggest concerns of fans with disabilities is the “line-of-sight” problem. Not just characteristic of Yankee Stadium, but an annoyance common to wheelchair users in almost every ballpark, is the tendency of fans to stand up at moments of heightened action. Invariably, this blocks the view of individuals in wheelchairs, and some of the most exciting moments at a sporting event are lost to them.

To correct this, Marinelli explained that HOK has designed all wheelchair viewing areas in the new Stadium to be high enough above the general seating so that fans jumping to their feet in front of wheelchair users will no longer block the view.

Other suggestions were not as obvious. As an example, Marinelli noted that the Yankees’ Carol Laurenzano pressed for electrical outlets to be installed in all wheelchair viewing areas to accommodate people needing to plug in medical equipment during the game. He said Laurenzano’s idea is not part of any existing building code or ADA requirement; she learned of the problem simply through her long experience of working with fans with disabilities and listening to their needs. Marinelli cited electrical outlets as a good common-sense suggestion and promised that it will be implemented.

Marinelli also assured attendees that the new Stadium would comply with New York City’s Local Law 58 regarding the number of wheelchair accessible viewing locations because Local Law 58 actually exceeds the requirements of the ADA.

Among numerous additional suggestions gleaned from the meeting were:

• Provide adequate depth at wheelchair seating locations to prevent fans in wheelchairs from being bumped or pushed by able-bodied people when passing such locations.

• Clearly mark points of arrival and departure for fans needing accessible transportation such as “Access-a-Ride” vehicles.

• Avoid unnecessarily long distances between accessible entrances and parking lots or mass transit links.

• Ensure adequate vertical clearance in parking garages.

• Ensure that access aisles between cars in handicapped parking areas are wide enough so that people in wheelchairs have enough room to navigate.

Marinelli noted that United Spinal’s Accessibility Services program had also consulted on accessibility compliance at the United States Tennis Association’s National Tennis Center in Flushing, NY, Riverfront Stadium in Newark, NJ, American Airlines Arena in Miami FL, Camden (NJ) Riversharks Ballpark, Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, NY and Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, among others.

HOK has designed or upgraded dozens of ballparks around the country, including Oriole Park in Camden Yards in Baltimore, Minute Maid Park in Houston, and PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

The new Yankee Stadium will be built at Macombs Dam Park adjacent to and north of the current field. The existing stadium, built in 1923, is the third oldest Major League ballpark in the country, behind Boston’s Fenway Park (1912) and Chicago’s Wrigley Field (1914).

United Spinal Awarded $99,643 Accessibility Education Grant from HUD

Late September brought additional good news to United Spinal’s Accessibility Services unit as program staffers received word that they have been awarded a $99,643 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for accessibility education programs targeting residential building developers, architects, city planners, and other residential designers.

The award is the first federal grant for accessible housing that United Spinal has received in its nearly 60-year history advocating for the rights of individuals with disabilities.

The funds are part of HUD’s Annual SuperNofa (Notice of Federal Assistance) Grant Program and are administered under the auspices of the agency’s Fair Housing Initiative Program. In a collaborative partnership with the International Code Council and with support from the National Association of Home Builders, United Spinal will use the funds to expand the reach of its Accessibility Services division, which conducts educational seminars for developers nationwide. United Spinal applied for the grant in June, 2005 and HUD will disperse the funds periodically during this fiscal year, from October 1, 2005 through September 30, 2006.

According to United Spinal’s proposal to HUD, the objective is to “provide a program, national in scope, that will educate housing industry providers, builders, contractors, realtors, lendors, and other like associations; disability advocacy groups; and state and local legislators of the regulations and requirements of the Fair Housing Act and the Fair Housing Act Guidelines with the intent to encourage the adoption of model building codes [and] construct multifamily dwellings that are consistent with these regulations.”

United Spinal also plans to provide public outreach to persons with disabilities and/or their support organizations that will include an accessible Web site for information on the requirements of the Fair Housing Act and a “best practices directory” to those interested in locating peer communities or organizations that have successfully adopted or modified their community’s building codes.

The grant also helps review proposed modifications of language to be included in state and local building codes and provide technical assistance and staff opinions on the requirements of the Fair Housing Act.

“We’re delighted and honored to have received this grant,” said United Spinal’s Program Counsel Kleo King. “We look forward to expanding our accessibility services to larger markets and educating more developers on the importance of creating accessible housing.”

NYC Mayor Bloomberg Praises United Spinal for Compliance Help on New Pool and Skating Rink

United Spinal’s Accessibility Services program also played a prominent role in making a new $55 million Olympic-sized indoor swimming pool and skating rink to be built in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, New York, more accessible to people with disabilities.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the facility, which will be completed by 2007, was hosted by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and included Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD), Matthew Sapolin; Queens Borough President, Helen Marshall; and Parks and Recreation Commissioner, Adrian Benepe.

Mayor Bloomberg praised the collaboration with United Spinal that guaranteed the facility will be fully accessible and his words were echoed by Commissioner Benepe who said that the architects for the complex “hooked us up with a terrific group called the United Spinal Association. They opened our eyes to all the things we didn’t know about accessibility for people with disabilities.” He added that the facility “will be a Mecca for all New Yorkers, including people with disabilities.”

The designers, Handel Architects, LLP and Hom & Goldman Architects, worked with Accessibility Services’ Senior Designer Carlos Rivera, who explained that his recommendations included:

• Verifying sight lines at wheelchair accessible viewing locations in both the pool seating area and the ice rink seating area, noting that seats in front of the wheelchair viewing locations must be permanently removed should they become obstructions to the sight lines.

• Since sled hockey equipment is typically longer than a wheelchair, more turning space was required in the team boxes and penalty boxes. He urged that benches be removable and thresholds at the doors be accessible.

• Installing an additional ramp at the rear entrance that meets minimum ADA requirements.

• Reconfiguring the entry ramp layout to facilitate better access. Entry to ramp will coincide with entry route for the general public and the ramp slope should be 1:20, eight feet wide with handrails on both sides, and the intermediate landing should be 8 feet by 16 feet.

“The Flushing pool will be furnished with lift equipment providing recreational swimming for people with disabilities and the accessible ice rink will allow them to play sled hockey,” said MOPD Director Sapolin. The entire facility will span more than 100,000 square feet with extensive use of glass panels to allow natural light into the pool area.

Rob Ingraham is senior editor for Communications.