UNLV arena struggles to accommodate disabled

Friday, March 24, 2000 | 11:29 a.m.

The plight of a physically disabled 12-year-old sports fan who encountered problems accessing the Thomas & Mack Center has rekindled long-standing complaints about the UNLV arena.

Las Vegas resident Stephen Quinn was prevented by arena employees from taking his wheelchair onto the floor level for the Feb. 5 UNLV men's basketball game against the University of Utah, even though he was accompanied by boosters with seats just four rows above the court. One of those boosters was Jeff Guinn, son of Gov. Kenny Guinn, a former interim president of the university.

The ordeal began when Jeff Guinn and his son had to lift Quinn and his wheelchair, which weighs about 350 pounds, from a boosters' parking area over a curb because there were no curb cuts in the immediate vicinity of the tunnel entrance they used to enter the arena.

But Quinn, who suffers from a rare birth defect that restricts joint movement and his ability to walk long distances, was told to leave his wheelchair in the tunnel with arena employees. He then had to walk through the tunnel and more than halfway around the court before he was carried up the stairs to his seat.

"The university should be ashamed of itself," said Vicki Quinn, his mother. "This shouldn't be a federal issue. It's a community issue. We're the fastest-growing community in the United States, and this is embarrassing."

The incident prompted two meetings involving Jeff Guinn, Quinn's parents and UNLV officials. Regent Mark Alden, who witnessed Quinn's ordeal, also wrote a letter of concern to interim Chancellor Tom Anderes, who oversees the University and Community College System of Nevada.

Jeff Guinn described the meetings as constructive and said he believes the university will take corrective action to make the arena more accessible to disabled individuals.

"They need to do something, and they understand that," Guinn said.

Alden, however, said he believes UNLV should take this opportunity to review access to the entire campus. In response, Anderes informed Alden he would consult with UNLV President Carol Harter.

"There is no compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act as far as I can see," Alden said of the arena. "They don't have the proper curb cuts or parking for the handicapped. Everyone I talk to is sympathetic, but no one is doing anything about it. If this situation continues, someone is going to file a lawsuit against the university."

Thomas & Mack Director Pat Christenson, who termed the Quinn incident "unfortunate," said wheelchairs are allowed on the floor level for nonsporting events such as concerts where there are no season-ticket holders. But wheelchairs are confined to the concourse level during basketball games because there is no room for them on the floor, he said. This would even apply to boosters in wheelchairs.

The perimeter of the court is taken up by players, media representatives, cheerleaders and able-bodied boosters. He said it would be unfair to ask existing season-ticket holders to move from the front row to accommodate a wheelchair.

A disabled person who can only afford to pay for the cheaper seats in the upper deck can get a space on the concourse level at the lower price, but only if there is room. That's because there are no wheelchair spaces in the upper level, either.

But Christenson conceded that some complaints related to Quinn's ordeal have merit and said there will be changes this year to make the arena more accessible. One potential way to allow wheelchairs on the floor level during basketball games would be to put them on platforms behind the baskets where there are retractable seats, he said.

"That is something we have to look at further," Christenson said.

The disabled community had complaints about the arena even before it opened in 1983. They still claim that many physically handicapped individuals won't go to the Thomas & Mack because of the unresolved issues.

Among their complaints are that booster parking is closer to the arena than handicapped parking and there is not enough seating for individuals with physical disabilities.

There also is a lack of signs inside the Thomas & Mack pointing to emergency exits for the disabled. There has never been an emergency evacuation of the arena, but if there were, the disabled individuals seated near the north entrance would be forced to use an exit where there are steps but no ramps or escalators.

Suzanne Thomas, a consultant to the Governor's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, trains arena ushers and security personnel on how to work with disabled patrons. But she said Thomas & Mack employees who deal with the public over the phone could use better training.

Thomas said that within the past year a deaf woman was unable to get an interpreter for an arena show that she attended. When she moved to a different part of the arena to get close to an interpreter whom she saw helping someone else, she was told by a Thomas & Mack employee to return to her seat, Thomas said.

Christenson said he was unaware of the deaf woman's inability to get an interpreter.

"That could have happened, but that's certainly not how we train our people," he said.

He said the Thomas & Mack has always worked closely with the governor's committee. He cited changes that were made so that wheelchair-bound individuals on the concourse could see over the people sitting in front of them. Concession stands were also made accessible, he said.

Dom Cambeiro, one of the arena's architects, defended the design of the Thomas & Mack back in 1981 when, he noted, the state Public Works Board performed several reviews and approved the design plans.

But Thomas said she discovered numerous problems with the Thomas & Mack when she reviewed the arena's plans later that year. Some problems, such as elevator and restroom access, were eventually resolved.

Thomas said a lingering problem in Nevada is that building inspectors who check plans according to the Uniform Building Code are not required by state law to incorporate the more stringent federal guidelines covering access to the disabled. Previous legislative attempts to change the state law have failed. The most common way to enforce the federal law, she said, is through a lawsuit.

That's why she said there remain unresolved issues at the arena such as the lack of adequate seating for the disabled. Thomas said that under the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, a precursor to the current Americans with Disabilities Act, the Thomas & Mack should have been built with spaces for 190 wheelchairs.

But for basketball games there is room in the 18,500-seat arena for only about 30 wheelchairs and 30 companions and only in two locations on the concourse level.

"The 1973 law said that if you received or benefited from federal funds, which the university does, and you built anything after 1977, it had to be accessible," Thomas said. "But the arena ended up being built out of compliance."

Thomas said one consequence of the lack of wheelchair space is that it prevents many disabled people from sitting close to their families.

"People with disabilities have a right to sit in the same area as people without disabilities," she said. "If you came with a wife and child, one can sit with you and one has to sit somewhere else. What fun is it if you can't sit with who you came with?"

Christenson, arena director since 1992, said he was unaware of the contention that the Thomas & Mack should have had more spaces for wheelchairs when it opened nearly 10 years earlier.

"If we had to comply with that now, I can't think it would cost less than $50 million to do what we'd have to do," Christenson said. "The building would have to be down for a year and we would have to tear out the lower level."

Although there are some handicapped parking spaces in the areas reserved for boosters, Christenson conceded that more should be done to accommodate disabled individuals.

"What we're looking at right now is creating a ribbon of disabled parking around the building," he said. "But at a big event, how do we deal with an overflow of disabled parking? We would have to put the overflow behind the VIP parking."

Christenson also said the Thomas & Mack plans to add signs inside the arena for disabled individuals. That job was actually supposed to have been completed during the last round of renovations, but he said the bid for the signs came in four times more costly than he expected.

"The Americans with Disabilities Act is a difficult law to interpret, but they (the disabled) are our guests, too," he said. "We need to make sure we do our best to accommodate them."

But Christenson and Marc Cardinalli, UNLV's interim administrative code officer, said the arena otherwise follows federal law because there is a path of accessibility inside for the physically disabled. They said such individuals can enter the arena by going through the Thomas & Mack administrative offices on the south side of the building and then taking an elevator. There is also an elevator near one of the tunnels to the arena.

"Now it may not be the most convenient way, but there is a conflict between convenience and law," Cardinalli said. "If we meet the law, that's one thing, but if it's inconvenient, that's something else. If there are problems to be corrected under the law, we will correct them."

But Cardinalli, who was notified about Quinn's situation, said he recommended that the arena do a better job informing the disabled community about access at the Thomas & Mack. One way to accomplish that would be through a brochure, he said.

"If we weren't interested in addressing these concerns, we wouldn't have met with the Quinns," Cardinalli said. "I would like to see more employee training and more outreach and publicity because it wouldn't hurt."

Local businessman Bernard Kaufman, a longtime member of the Governor's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, said he believes some issues such as curb cuts and parking will be resolved within six months.

"If there is anything that requires a lot of money, like seat configuration, we may have to go to the Legislature and that would take more time," he said. "I am confident that things will be worked out."

Steve Kanigher is a staff writer for the Sun. He can be reached at (702)-259-4075 or by e-mail at steve@lasvegassun.com.

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