[SML] Stairs from audience to stage

[Stephen Rees]

Hi Bill,
To address your query, you need to understand that if you were in a
wheelchair, you would be located in one of the reserved spaces at the rear
of the house. (These open areas were created by removing 20 of the original
seats in the late '80d, reducing the overall house capacity.) You would not
be able to access the front of the auditorium in any event due to the rake
of the seating area.  I think that may be the case in many auditoria.
Previous to the renovation and addition construction, you would have had to
actually go outside and through the parking lot to the stage door/loading
dock where a ramp gave access to the stage level.  Ramps were NOT part of
the original 1972 design and construction, the plans having been approved
in 1968 or 1969 prior to the ADA laws being written.  Those ramps were put
in as an afterthought in the late '70s and early '80s in advance of the ADA
as well. There was elevator access provided to the black box theatre on the
lower level but that was also installed before the Act.

Since the completion of the addition in 2016, if you were in the provided
seating area in your wheelchair, you would exit the house like all other
patrons, go down the ADA compliant ramp cleverly laid out by the
architects, proceed out of the theatre lobby into the newly created
interior hallway to the backstage area and then through the doors into the
UL area of the stage.

I'm pretty sure ours is not the only facility with these
particular restraints, but to remediate them in the existing space would be
nearly impossible.  To address the issue of compliance fully would require
the design and construction of a new facility, not the renovation of the
existing space.

BTW, there is the unresolved issue of getting a wheelchair user into the
orchestra pit when it is in the fully down configuration. One would have to
load on before the pit dropped.  Ramping could be created in the trap
room below the stage deck but there has never been an actual need for that.
Topic for another day.

I'm enjoying reading this thread and am glad to hear of other situations
for good or ill.
Best,
Steve

Stephen E. Rees,
Professor and Chair Emeritus of Theatre - SUNY Fredonia
CCE-CC Master Gardener Volunteer
716.366.0505 Home
716.680.1565 Mobile
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