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The University has reached a settlement that ends the lawsuit over Michigan Stadium's accessibility to disabled fans - and, for the time being, will end the Big House's reign as the largest football stadium in the country.
The Michigan Paralyzed Veterans of America agreed to drop the lawsuit in return for a commitment from the University to add more wheelchair-accessible seating and make changes to stadium facilities like bathrooms and ramps to bring them into compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act. The group was joined by the U.S. Department of Justice, which signed onto the lawsuit as a co-plaintiff in November.
The $226 million stadium expansion project, which will add structures containing luxury boxes and club seating, will not be affected.
Before construction on the expansion project began in November, Michigan Stadium had 92 wheelchair-accessible seats, all of them located behind the north and south end zones.
The settlement, filed as a consent decree in federal district court, requires the stadium to have at least 329 wheelchair-accessible seats when the renovation project concludes in 2010. That figure includes 96 wheelchair-accessible seats and companion seats to be added by the start of the 2008 football season in late August.
The University denied any wrongdoing in the consent decree.
The various adjustments to the stadium will cost about $2 million, according to Gloria Hage, the University's interim vice president and general counsel.
Because wheelchair-accessible seats take up about 12 times as much space as normal seats, the changes will also drop the stadium's seat capacity from 107,501 to an estimated 106,201 for the 2008 and 2009 seasons. That will make Michigan Stadium the second-largest football stadium in the country after Penn State University's Beaver Stadium, which holds 107,282.
University officials said they don't know what the stadium's capacity will be after the expansion project and said they don't know whether it will again become the biggest. The project will add a total of 5,100 seats, but some of the stadium's existing seats will be removed to make room for the addition.
The pre-settlement project estimate said the stadium's capacity by the conclusion of the project in 2010 would top 108,000, an addition of 500 seats from the start of the project. But because today's settlement will remove an estimated 1,500 seats from the bowl, it's unclear whether that will be enough to make Michigan Stadium the biggest again.
"Over time, we again expect to have the largest capacity of any stadium in the country," Hage said. "We have to wait until 2010 to see how the new seating shakes out."
The settlement also requires the University to renovate a total of 20 bathrooms over the next three years so they comply with ADA regulations, designate handicapped spaces at nearby parking lots, provide shuttles from these lots, train all ushers how to assist disabled people, begin actively marketing football tickets to disabled fans and make sure that gameday amenities like ticket offices and concession stands are accessible.
Lawyers on both sides of the table said they were happy with the outcome of the settlement.
"All of the parties approached these discussions with the spirit of compromise," Hage said. "We're very, very pleased that we were able to reach an agreement."
http://media.www.michigandaily.com/...ichigan.Stadium.Lawsuit.Settled-3262801.shtml
May be the biggest, but not the best stadium.
The Michigan Paralyzed Veterans of America agreed to drop the lawsuit in return for a commitment from the University to add more wheelchair-accessible seating and make changes to stadium facilities like bathrooms and ramps to bring them into compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act. The group was joined by the U.S. Department of Justice, which signed onto the lawsuit as a co-plaintiff in November.
The $226 million stadium expansion project, which will add structures containing luxury boxes and club seating, will not be affected.
Before construction on the expansion project began in November, Michigan Stadium had 92 wheelchair-accessible seats, all of them located behind the north and south end zones.
The settlement, filed as a consent decree in federal district court, requires the stadium to have at least 329 wheelchair-accessible seats when the renovation project concludes in 2010. That figure includes 96 wheelchair-accessible seats and companion seats to be added by the start of the 2008 football season in late August.
The University denied any wrongdoing in the consent decree.
The various adjustments to the stadium will cost about $2 million, according to Gloria Hage, the University's interim vice president and general counsel.
Because wheelchair-accessible seats take up about 12 times as much space as normal seats, the changes will also drop the stadium's seat capacity from 107,501 to an estimated 106,201 for the 2008 and 2009 seasons. That will make Michigan Stadium the second-largest football stadium in the country after Penn State University's Beaver Stadium, which holds 107,282.
University officials said they don't know what the stadium's capacity will be after the expansion project and said they don't know whether it will again become the biggest. The project will add a total of 5,100 seats, but some of the stadium's existing seats will be removed to make room for the addition.
The pre-settlement project estimate said the stadium's capacity by the conclusion of the project in 2010 would top 108,000, an addition of 500 seats from the start of the project. But because today's settlement will remove an estimated 1,500 seats from the bowl, it's unclear whether that will be enough to make Michigan Stadium the biggest again.
"Over time, we again expect to have the largest capacity of any stadium in the country," Hage said. "We have to wait until 2010 to see how the new seating shakes out."
The settlement also requires the University to renovate a total of 20 bathrooms over the next three years so they comply with ADA regulations, designate handicapped spaces at nearby parking lots, provide shuttles from these lots, train all ushers how to assist disabled people, begin actively marketing football tickets to disabled fans and make sure that gameday amenities like ticket offices and concession stands are accessible.
Lawyers on both sides of the table said they were happy with the outcome of the settlement.
"All of the parties approached these discussions with the spirit of compromise," Hage said. "We're very, very pleased that we were able to reach an agreement."
http://media.www.michigandaily.com/...ichigan.Stadium.Lawsuit.Settled-3262801.shtml
May be the biggest, but not the best stadium.
