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VETERANS ADD TO LAWSUIT AGAINST UNIVERSITY OF

MICHIGAN OVER STADIUM -- PVA files new documents

claiming stadium work is a major renovation and UofM

must add more handicapped-accessible seats.

 

University of Michigan stadium

 

Background with backlinks here...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/
07/nf07/nfMAY07/nf052307-9.htm

Story here... http://www.detnews.com/
apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070
530/SCHOOLS/705300306/1026

Story below:

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Vets add to suit against U-M over stadium

Marisa Schultz / The Detroit News

The Michigan Paralyzed Veterans of America filed new court documents Tuesday in a lawsuit against the University of Michigan, that are, in part, a response to comments U-M Athletic Director Bill Martin made last week in The Detroit News.

In a sports story May 23, Martin talked about the U-M football schedule for 2010 in the "new stadium" and questioned who the team would play for the "ribbon-cutting game."

Those comments prove to the veterans that U-M indeed views the $226 million project at Michigan Stadium as a major renovation, they say.

Coupled with previous seating replacements, that work triggers higher levels of compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and would call for the entire stadium to be accessible -- or adding 700 more wheelchair seats than what U-M plans, the vets say.

U-M officials said Tuesday they hadn't seen the court documents and so couldn't specifically comment.

However, they say, the university's position is unchanged.

The area to be expanded will be ADA compliant, and the other concrete seating projects were just repairs and don't trigger the higher standards for the entire stadium, U-M has said.

U-M is "unaware of any single occurrence where a person with a disability sought to attend an event at the stadium and was either denied a ticket or otherwise denied access based on any disability," U-M has said in previous court papers.

You can reach Marisa Schultz at (313) 222-2310 or mschultz@detnews.com.

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Larry Scott  --