Michigan Stadium ('Big House') will become Accessible House
MICHIGAN-The Michigan Chapter of Paralyzed Veterans of America has won a groundbreaking victory to make stadiums accessible for people with disabilities.
"Now the Big House will be more barrier-free and accessible for paralyzed veterans and all people with disabilities and their families to fully enjoy sports," said Mike Harris, executive director, Michigan Chapter of Paralyzed Veterans of America.
"There are 54 million people in America with disabilities. That's roughly 500 Big House stadiums full of disabled people. We urge all inaccessible stadiums in Michigan and America to follow the example set here and to make their venues more barrier-free. It's good for sports. It's good for people with disabilities. It's good for America," Harris said.
Michigan Chapter of Paralyzed Veterans sued the University of Michigan in federal court regarding its renovations, which were not in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the landmark bi-partisan legislation that has been helping to make America more accessible for nearly two decades. The U.S. Justice Department intervened and joined the case against the University of Michigan.
The University settled the suit by more than tripling the number of wheelchair accessible seats to 329 and locating them throughout the venue. The original plans had the disabled seating back in the north and south end zones. The project is scheduled to be completed by 2010.
"Ideally stadiums should be designed with full accessibility. It would be great if we could get accessibility voluntarily when we recommend solutions, but, sometimes we have to take legal action. Working in partnership with the U.S. Justice Department, we were able to persuade the University of Michigan to do the right thing and make the Big House as barrier free as possible. We need all stadiums to be accessible for all Americans," said Mark Lichter, senior associate director of architecture, National Paralyzed Veterans of America.
Founded in 1946, Paralyzed Veterans of America is the only congressionally chartered veterans service organization dedicated solely for the benefit and representation of individuals with spinal cord injury or disease. Paralyzed Veterans is a dynamic, broad-based organization with more than 19,000 members in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. To learn more about Paralyzed Veterans, visit its website at http://veterans.gather.com.
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Veterans.gather.com is a community for veterans, those actively serving, family and friends to share their perspectives on social, economic, health issues and more. Raise your awareness by reading up to date information from Paralyzed Veterans of America. To join, click here.
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