METHUEN — When resident Mark Ward and his family heard about the Nicholson Stadium renovations, they were particularly excited by the notion of improved accessibility.
Ward’s son, Will, a Methuen High School freshman, suffers from myotubular myopathy, a condition that affects muscles used for movement and requires him to use a wheelchair. At times, Ward said, it can be tough for his son to be included.
That proved true in a sense when some of his peers invited him to a football game – a gesture marred by what Ward said was a lack of wheelchair-accessible seating in the home team area of the bleachers.
“They didn’t even think maybe it wouldn’t be possible for my son to go to the game and sit in the stands with his friends, but unfortunately, that’s the reality,” Ward said.
Accessible seating at the stadium was just one of the issues mentioned during a public hearing held at City Hall Thursday night for residents to comment on locations in the city that might need accessibility, accessibility modifications or improvements for the disabled.
A little under a dozen residents attended the hearing, including members of the city’s Commission on Disabilities. Robin Stein, chief of staff for Mayor Stephen Zanni, conducted the hearing along with Department of Public Works Director Patrick Bower; City Solicitor Kerry Jenness; and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Coordinator Gene Walsh.
Stein said the city held the hearing to gather input and suggestions from residents about what areas of the city could use accessibility improvements as it plans future projects.
A similar hearing was held after a 2006 consent decree for improvements to help the disabled, she said. That contract, the result of a 2005 lawsuit, called for upgrades to public sidewalks and facilities, as well as for the city to appoint an ADA coordinator, and was revived earlier this year.
“It’s a big community, a lot of mileage. We try to keep an eye on it but we wanted to hear from the people that were affected as we move forward with these plans,” Stein said.
Some residents discussed the need for improving certain sidewalks and intersections. For instance, one woman mentioned the need for sidewalk issues in the Oak Street area, as well as improvements to an intersection on Milk Street near the TD Bank.
Another resident submitted a letter to the mayor’s office asking for a sidewalk on Milk Street approaching Veterans Memorial Park, an area where Stein said there is not currently a sidewalk.
“Every spring and summer we do road improvements, pavings, and we want to be thoughtful every year of those with disabilities,” Stein said.
Ward said he wanted to bring attention to the stadium issue so that his son could enjoy a football game with his friends.
“I’m really here to question how could this plan, this $4.6 million price tag, aimed at making this stadium accessible, have dropped the ball so horribly,” he said.
Improved accessibility was one of the reasons behind the push to renovate the stadium, which includes field improvements, the addition of a girls’ locker room, upgrades to the existing locker room and restroom facilities.
While the stadium has wheelchair-accessible seating on the visitors’ side bleachers, it does not offer the same access on the side of the bleachers where home team supporters usually sit.
“We’re disappointed that the only option is to go all the way around the field and sit with the opposing teams,” Ward said.
Zanni shared plans to install more seating for the disabled at the stadium in August, telling The Eagle-Tribune that the stadium would be compliant when it opened. He noted at the time that adding accessible seating to the home team section of the stands was still something that needed to be done.
Ward said that midway through October, he still hasn’t seen that task accomplished. Stein said city is working on a plan to address the accessibility issues at the stadium, and referred further comment to William Buckley, the city’s director of economic and community development.
“Ideally, I’d like to have my son have an option of attending the game and sitting with his friends,” Ward said, adding that he’d like to “have the City of Methuen realize this shouldn’t be an afterthought.”
Follow reporter Lisa Kashinsky on Twitter @lisakash23.
The Last Word by Sid Harris:
Its amazing to listen to what politicians have to say about their commitment to accessibility only after they fail to properly address making facilities accessible and they get challenged for poor decision making. The city had no plans to make the home bleachers accessible and were content to have those with disabilities walk over 450 feet to the new accessible bleachers on the other side of the field. Once again I was forced to contact the state on the city’s plan not to make the bleachers accessible in a $4.3M stadium renovation project. The AAB appropriately intervened in this matter with notification to the city to make the bleachers accessible.
Side note: Though at this time I wasn’t a member of the disability commission members did attend this hearing. I was astounded that not one member spoke at this hearing in representation of the community they represent. Pitiful!
Sid Harris