By Maddox Price

Editor-In-Chief

Mazes of black and yellow caution tape outlined the Commons Courtyard over the summer as echoing sounds of hammers, drills and forklifts filled the air at Brookhaven College.

In mid-May, construction crews began working toward making Brookhaven compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Director of Facilities Tommy Gallegos said.

Upgrades to handrails, drinking fountains, countertops, door levers, paper towel dispensers, sidewalks, ramps and two elevator installations were part of the construction. Gallegos said: “Under the 1994 ADA Code, there were items that were not in compliance. Current upgrades were part of the new revisions for ADA compliance for the state of Texas in 2012.”

Brookhaven president Dr. Thom Chesney said the ADA projects, totaling $12 million, were funded by unused money from Maintenance Tax Notes, 2004 General Obligation Bonds and from DCCCD colleges’ funds. “The DCCCD Board of Trustees approved re-purposing these funds for the ADA projects,” Chesney said.

According to the DCCCD 2013-14 planning and budget committee agenda, “roughly nine million” was allocated to the district-wide accessibility projects.

Not everyone agrees with the changes, specifically with the new elevator under construction inside C Building. Theater professor Darise Error made her opinions known in a YouTube video, “Elevator to Nowhere at Brookhaven College,” published May 17, which has since been removed.

In the video, Error said the doorway into the Performance Hall is not wide enough to allow wheelchair access.

She said the steep incline of the stairs and narrow space between the rows would be difficult to manage for a mobility-impaired individual.

Error said the elevator might be useful if the balcony were to be renovated, but there are no plans in the ADA construction agenda to add wheelchair spaces.

According to the Texas Accessibility Standards, 221.2.3.2 Vertical Dispersion: “Wheelchair spaces shall be dispersed vertically at varying distances from the screen, performance area, or playing field. In addition, wheelchair spaces shall be located in each balcony or mezzanine that is located on an accessible route.”

Error said, “How many seats you need in a space is based on what the total seating capacity is; we already over-exceed what’s required.”

Error said there was a rule passed that assembly areas must provide vertical options for patrons wishing to sit farther back.

“Ok, you could have done that with a ramp in the theater, which would have been infinitely cheaper,” she said.

Error said she measured the distance from the handicapped parking to the theater door, and it was 50 yards and another 50 yards to the elevator.

“It’s like having them do one 50-yard dash, and they’re going to choose to do a second 50-yard dash to the elevator to ride up to a crappy seat when they can walk 20 feet and sit on the fifth row?” Error said.

Error sent the video to her dean as well as the Dallas County Community College District Board of Trustees because “no one was listening,” she said.

In charge of the projects and winner of the bid to build the elevator were Dimensions Architects and Reeder Construction Company. Dimensions Architects have done remodels at Brookhaven in the past, including the Tree Top Café.

Chesney said he has seen the YouTube video. “Rather than accusatory, it struck me as frank commentary, which openly captured the videographer’s perspective and opinions,” he said.

According to ada.gov, an accessible route must be provided for mobility-impaired individuals where able-bodied routes are available in assembly areas.

Error said what does put the Performance Hall out of compliance is the assistive listening system, which has been broken for all nine years she has been at Brookhaven.

A sign outside the ticket booth advertises an “assistive listening device available” for hearing-impaired patrons. An ALS is a headset device that amplifies the sound of the performers through a system of microphones.

According to ada.gov: “The 1991 Standards, in section 4.1.3(19)(b), require assembly areas, where audible communication is integral to the use of the space, to provide an assistive listening system if they have an audio amplification system or an occupant load of 50 or more people and have fixed seating. The 2010 Standards in section 219 require assistive listening systems in spaces where communication is integral to the space and audio amplification is provided and in courtrooms.”

Chesney said the college will follow up and gather more information on the ALS, and he was unfamiliar with the issue until recently.

Error said the Performance Hall is not the only questionable upgrade. She said the new walkway ramps by the F Building create a nightmare when it rains. “It’s like no one looked at the landscape and the potential impact of that,” she said.

Despite her disapproval, Error said she is pro-Brookhaven and does not wish to seek any additional attention on the issue out of fear the media might portray the campus in a bad light.

Error said she removed the YouTube video out of her own initiative. “First, it’s a done deal now, and the video was made when I thought there was the chance of turning the horses around and stopping the process. To still have it up at this point just seems a little mean-spirited,” she said.

Gallegos said all the projects went smoothly and will assist all special needs students, staff and visitors by providing accessible facilities.