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# 196

October 22, 1996

Mr. Allan H. Selig


Acting Commissioner
Major League Baseball
Office of the Commissioner
350 Park Avenue
New York, New York 10022

Dear Mr. Selig:

My office is charged with the responsibility for enforcing


the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. I write today
to enlist your aid in a matter affecting the interests of the
Major League Baseball and all of its major and minor league
clubs.

As you may know, the ADA requires that newly constructed


public accommodations and commercial facilities, including sports
stadia and arenas, be readily accessible to and usable by
individuals with disabilities. Since the ADA has been in effect,
the Department of Justice has received numerous complaints
regarding the accessibility of new sports facilities, including a
number being built by or for major or minor league baseball
clubs. In addition, several private individuals and
organizations have filed lawsuits involving such facilities,
alleging a variety of failures to comply with the accessibility
requirements of the ADA.

We are committed to providing full and accurate information


to baseball owners about the ADA's requirements for new stadiums,
and to alert them to the potential legal exposure of failing to
comply with those requirements. It is our hope that, as acting
commissioner of Major League Baseball, you may be able to help.
We believe that by working together we can achieve a higher level
of understanding of, and compliance with, the law. To that end,
I have set forth in this letter a brief overview of some of the
most common issues that arise in new stadium projects and have
enclosed a document entitled "Accessible Stadiums" which
discusses relevant accessibility requirements. I invite you to
distribute these materials and this letter to your members. I
also propose that we meet to discuss the best ways of
accomplishing the goal of compliance with the law, once you and
your members have had a chance to review these materials.

Coverage. The ADA requires that all newly constructed


public accommodations and commercial facilities, including sports
stadiums and arenas, be readily accessible to and usable by
individuals with disabilities. In the case of existing
facilities, the ADA has similar requirements conditioned on the
practicality of achieving accessibility. New construction,
however, is accorded far less latitude under the law, on the
theory that building the facility right in the first place is
easier than retrofitting an existing structure.

Lines of sight. Without question the single most prevalent


issue that arises in new stadium projects involves the lines of
sight afforded to patrons who use wheelchairs and sit in the
stadium's wheelchair seating locations. The ADA's Standards for
Accessible Design -- the architectural requirements applicable to
new stadiums -- require that wheelchair seating areas provide
people with disabilities with lines of sight comparable to those
for members of the general public. Thus, we believe that
facilities like sports stadiums, where spectators can be expected
to stand during the event, must provide wheelchair locations with
lines of sight over those standing spectators. This can be
accomplished in various ways, including placing wheelchair
locations at the front of a seating section, or by providing
sufficient additional elevation for wheelchair locations placed
at the rear of seating sections.

The Number and Location of Seats for Companions of


Wheelchair Users. The Standards require that there be at least
one fixed companion seat next to every wheelchair location.
Thus, the total number of companion seats must be at least equal
to the total number of wheelchair locations, and each companion
seat must be in the same row as and next to the wheelchair
location. It is not acceptable to designate seats in a different
row, whether in front of or behind the wheelchair location, as
"companion seats."

Dispersal of Wheelchair Seating Locations. With respect to


the placement of wheelchair seating locations throughout the
stadium, the Standards require that people with disabilities must
have a choice of admission prices and lines of sight comparable
to those for other spectators. In order for the design of a
stadium to comply with this requirement, the stadium's wheelchair
locations must be proportionately distributed among each of the
stadium's categories of seating. Thus, if half of the stadium's
seats are in the lower level of the stadium, then approximately
half of the wheelchair locations must be in that level as well.
It is not acceptable to place a disproportionately large number
of wheelchair locations in the stadium's highest seating levels.

Designs for Temporary Seating. The Standards recognize that


not every wheelchair location will be sold for every game.
Wheelchair locations may be filled in with temporary, readily
removable seats if they are not needed for wheelchair users.
Before wheelchair locations can be replaced with other seating,
however, all other seats in the stadium must first be sold. It
is not permissible to sell a seat in a wheelchair location to
someone who does not use a wheelchair if there are other seats
still available, even if those other seats are not as desirable
as the wheelchair seating location.

One of the problems that has frequently arisen stems from a


design in which several adjacent wheelchair locations are
replaced by a platform or series of risers with multiple standard
seats. This design can cause significant operational
difficulties, as it prevents placing any readily removable
standard seats in a wheelchair seating area whenever even one
wheelchair user requests to sit in that area. It is not, of
course, an acceptable alternative either to attempt to discourage
wheelchair users from sitting in that area, or to "steer" them
into areas where seats have already been purchased by other
wheelchair users, or to conceal from wheelchair users who seek
tickets that locations are available in wheelchair seating areas
where no wheelchair users have yet purchased tickets. Thus,
while this is not strictly a design problem, it is well worth
considering carefully the design of the "readily removable"
seating to be used in wheelchair areas.

Accessibility of Private Suites. The Standards also set


requirements for a new stadium's private suites. Because these
suites fall within the Standards' definition of a common use
space, every toilet room in every suite must be fully accessible.
In addition, if the suites have fixed seating, then each must
provide at least one wheelchair seating location and one
companion seat. Finally, because there are accessible spaces and
features within the suites, the Standards require that each of
the suites must be on an accessible route, and accessible routes
cannot include steps or stairs.

Team Locker Rooms and Similar Areas. Because team locker


rooms and shower areas also fall within the definition of a
common use area, the requirement that all common use toilet and
bathing facilities be accessible applies to team locker rooms.
Moreover, the Standards specifically require that there be an
accessible route connecting wheelchair seating areas with
performing areas, including stages, arena floors, dressing rooms,
locker rooms, and other spaces used by players and performers.

Assistive Listening Systems. Given that new stadiums are


frequently multi-purpose facilities that also host concerts,
conventions, and other events, those developing these stadiums
should be aware that the Standards require any facility in which
audible communications are integral to the use of the space to
have a permanently installed assistive listening system.

* * *

In addition to the four-page document entitled "Accessible


Stadiums," I call your attention to the Department's recent
settlement agreements with the organizers of the Olympic Games
covering the new Olympic Stadium and other facilities constructed
for that event. These facilities reflect practical design
responses to many of the requirements of the Standards. You may
review these documents on-line at the Department of Justice's
World Wide Web site http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm.

We are certain that Major League Baseball shares our


commitment to ensuring that all of its stadiums are fully
accessible to all baseball fans, and look forward to working
together with your members to make their stadiums models of
accessibility. I would urge you or your general counsel to
contact John Wodatch, Chief of our Disability Rights Section, at
202-307-0663 at your convenience should you wish to schedule a
mutually convenient time for us to meet and discuss these or
other related ADA issues.

Sincerely,

Deval L. Patrick
Assistant Attorney General
Civil Rights Division

Enclosure

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