Disabled access at Trop wins approval

ST. PETERSBURG -- St. Petersburg and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays have corrected all the problems with disabled access at Tropicana Field, resolving a complaint filed by local disabled activist George Locascio.

"The remaining improvements necessary for access to Tropicana Field have now been completed," Dianne A. Spriggs of the U.S. Department of the Interior wrote to the City Attorney's Office May 30.

The Interior Department enforces the Americans With Disabilities Act at sports stadiums. Locascio provided a copy of the letter to the Times Tuesday.

Locascio is a paraplegic who uses a wheelchair to get around. He has railed about the dome's accessibility problems since 1984, when the stadium was being designed.

Despite his input then and when the dome was being renovated for the inaugural baseball season in 1998, violations of the ADA remained. So Locascio called in the federal government.

In 2000, Spriggs agreed with a list of problems Locascio detailed, including seats the city said were handicapped-accessible that weren't; toilet flush valves that blocked grab bars; and paper towel holders in positions that made it difficult for a wheelchair user to move onto toilets.

Since then, the city has worked with the Devil Rays to fix all those problems.

"We felt good about it from a facility standpoint, and we appreciate everything the city did to get it into compliance," said Rick Nafe, Devil Rays vice president of operations.

But Locascio still sees one shortcoming: the hash marks painted in access aisles between accessible parking spaces should be white, not blue, he said.

"The access aisle is not properly striped," Locascio said Tuesday. "It helps remind people that you don't park here. But overall, they have made a lot of progress."

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