Disabled Activists Slam Stadium Seating

The U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts is suing National Amusements Inc., operator of Showcase Cinema, and Hoyts Cinema Corp., for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act in the way their stadium seating is designed.

Two separate lawsuits filed this week by attorney Donald Stern in U.S. District Court in Boston contend that handicapped moviegoers are denied access to better seats because the bleacher-like stadium seating in the chains' movie theaters make it difficult if not impossible for them to climb the stairs.

"National Amusements and Hoyts have described stadium theaters as a 'breakthrough in the industry' and inspired by 'what the customer wants as a perfect movie-going experience,' " says Stern. "No justification exists for denying that experience to individuals who use wheelchairs or have mobility impairments."

The stadium seats that Stern refers to (and we've grown accustomed to) are perched farther back from the screen, but are elevated on a series of risers. Each riser is usually 12 to 18 inches above the one below it allowing for unobstructed viewing, like those at a sports stadium.

Stern's basic argument is that wheelchair-bound patrons are discriminated against because the offending movie chains only make handicap space available at the very front or the very back of the theater--while the best sightlines are to be found up high.

"[Stadium-style seating] effective treats individuals with mobility impairments as second class citizens. Such conduct is discrimination, pure and simple, and the Americans with Disabilities Act forbids it," adds Stern.

Stern's seeking court orders to require the movie chains to design and build better bleachers that don't exclude the disabled under the guidelines set forth in the ADA. He also wants modifications made to any existing stadium-seating

Andy Washburn, an ADA information specialist with Adaptive Environments, a national organization providing technical assistance and consultation to architects, corporations and the disabled, says the lawsuit is a long-time in coming and follows a similar suit the Department of Justice filed against the AMC theater chain in early 1999.

"[Stadium] seating is obviously designed to provide a certain level of experience to the moviegoer," says Washburn. "But for the disabled, it's a very bad seat because it's so low and the screen is so close at that height."

The AMC case has yet to be settled, but Washburn sees a growing trend whereby theater chains are using this type of seating arrangement more and more as a selling point to patrons-the companies promise bigger screens and better views, but unfortunately lose sight of ADA requirements and their disabled customers.

One wheelchair-bound activist, Betsy Pillsbury, said going to movie theaters where there is stadium seating isn't all it's cracked up to be.

"You're not able to sit with your friends," she said. "You have to sit alone. You have to sit up front and crane your neck and the screen is out of focus."

If a court were to order Hoyts and National Amusements to modify their existing stadium-seating, Washburn suggests retrofitting the theaters with platforms that could help make the risers more accessible to people with disabilities.

"Platform lifts could come up from the floor, would run on the stairs, fold up so it would be out of the way, and generally not require a ton of architectural work-only ripping out a couple of seats. That might be a solution for the bigger theaters," offers Washburn.

As far as building future stadium-style theaters, the ADA specialist says it's all starts at drawing board.

"In new construction, it's simply a matter of design," says Washburn. "There's no reason not to design an entrance in the middle."

Together, the Massachussets-based National Amusements, which is owned by media behemoth Viacom, and Hoyts Cinema run over 40 movie theaters across the country featuring stadium seating.

Neither company would comment on the lawsuit.