WHEELCHAIR ACCESS IN SPOTLIGHT AT SALEM CIVIC CENTER

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 10, 1993                   TAG: 9304100239
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
WHEELCHAIR ACCESS IN SPOTLIGHT AT SALEM CIVIC CENTER
Some of the choice seats at Salem Civic Center concerts are reserved for people in wheelchairs.
A platform near the stage is large enough for five people in wheelchairs and their companions. One usher is designated to attend only to that area.
But one teen-age country music fan thinks the Salem Civic Center does not go far enough to accommodate people in wheelchairs.
Bobbi Jo Carmer, 16, would like to attend the George Jones show on May 2. She has not bought tickets, however, because the civic center cannot guarantee that her boyfriend can sit in a seat placed beside her wheelchair.
"Paying the same price for the tickets, she should have the same choices as anyone," said her mother, Melanie Carmer.
The dispute focuses attention on the Americans With Disabilities Act, which requires public facilities to make every effort to "reasonably accommodate" the handicapped.
Salem officials say they have met both the letter and spirit of the law at the civic center, a 25-year-old building.
They say the platform gives concert-goers in wheelchairs an excellent vantage point, equivalent to seats in the first 10 rows.
Carmer and her guest probably would be able to sit side by side at the George Jones show, according to John Saunders, assistant civic center manager.
"We can't guarantee it right now, but we don't expect any problem," he said.
Things could change, he said, if four or five people in wheelchairs show up. The wheelchairs then would be positioned in a row across the front of the platform, with their companions sitting behind them.
The platform never has filled at any show, Saunders said.
But Carmer, who has muscular dystrophy, wants assurances before she buys tickets.
Carmer said the civic center should expand the wheelchair area so she and others can sit beside their friends.
She said the area has been too crowded at past concerts. "You can't move without bumping into someone else's wheelchair," she said.
Karen Michalski, executive director of the Blue Ridge Independent Living Center, an advocacy group for the disabled, said she did not think Carmer was being unreasonable.
"They're making an accommodation," Michalski said, "but if I was a wheelchair user I would want to be guaranteed I would be able to sit next to my boyfriend or girlfriend."
Carolyn Barrett, Salem's director of personnel and safety, said the civic center is looking into the possibility of expanding the wheelchair platform as part of future renovations.
For now, however, Barrett said the city had done everything it can - within reason - to accommodate Carmer.
"The person will be right behind her. It's not like she's going to be by herself," Barrett said. "I don't know what else we can do at this point."

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB