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Trop given 90 days to fix disabled access
By LEONORA LaPETER
© St. Petersburg Times, ST. PETERSBURG -- A year after an inspection revealed state and federal violations for access by the disabled at Tropicana Field, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays received notice they have 90 days to finish fixing the stadium. The July 24 letter from the U.S. Department of Interior spells out a timetable for finishing the job of making Tropicana Field accessible for disabled fans, but it fails to outline any penalties if it is not complete by the time its inspector returns in late October or early November. Jack Andre, an inspector with the National Park Service's Equal Employment Opportunity Program, said Monday he had hoped the work would be finished last month -- a year after he first inspected the stadium and laid out what needed to be done. But it's his job to work toward voluntary compliance, and he has been assured the work will be complete upon his return in three months. "As long as folks are trying to get it done, we'll work with them," said Dianne A. Spriggs, program manager for the Equal Employment Opportunity Program of the National Park Service. "They've been fully cooperative with our reviews and have strived to be in compliance. We can see they've made good progress." Although federal officials appear satisfied with the pace of the work, advocates for the disabled said they are disappointed it has taken this long. "It appears to me they are continuing to drag their feet," said George Locascio, 75, a paraplegic who uses a motorized wheelchair and attends Devil Rays games often. "This is the second visit Jack Andre has made. They knew a year ago what was expected of them. But what have they done?" The city set aside $45,000 for the improvements in June. Since that time, the baseball team has lowered some counters at the food court and provided signs designating accessible parking and bathrooms, among other improvements. But lines indicating handicapped parking spaces must still be repainted, and automatic flush valves in many handicapped-accessible stalls still block the grab bars behind the toilet that let wheelchair users move from a wheelchair to the toilet seat. When asked why the work hadn't been completed before Andre's return in June, Assistant City Attorney Jeannine Williams said the city chose to evaluate whether the work was required by federal and state law. "Once those determinations were made, we did act on those," Williams said. "It has taken a little longer than we expected, but it will be done by the end of the year, and I think that's what counts." But the city and the Rays solved the problem of not enough handicapped seats by reducing the number of seats in the stadium. Stadiums must provide wheelchair seats equal to 1 percent of the total seating in a stadium, plus an equal number of companion seats. Tropicana Field was 29 seats short last year because some seats were disqualified by federal officials. At that time, the stadium had 44,476 seats, according to a Department of Interior letter. Now the stadium has 43,772 seats, requiring 437 handicapped-accessible seats. "I guess I'm disappointed that the man from the Department of Interior didn't seek to verify that number and just accepted them as fact," said Jack Humburg, a consultant on handicap accessibility who has worked with the city. "I'm not saying they're lying, but it's questionable to me how they got these numbers. The numbers seem to magically change depending on what question is asked." Williams said some seats were removed to accommodate a picnic table area at the stadium, although she didn't know how many. Officials with the Devil Rays could not be reached for comment. Locascio said he would like to see an audit of the seats. He said he will be seeing his lawyer next week to discuss the possibility of a lawsuit against the city for allowing the Devil Rays to improve the stadium without requiring them to bring it into compliance.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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