Although they face a possible lawsuit, the University, citing high cost, will not engage an independent consultant for the Americans with Disabilities Act building survey.
Surveying University Park's more than 13 million square feet would cost between 50 cents and $1 per foot for a total cost range between $6.5 million and $13 million, according to a five-page April 21 memo sent from Mark Faulkner, an attorney for the University to Pamela Berger, a lawyer with the Disabilities Law Project in Pittsburgh.
The memo summarizes a previous meeting between Faulkner and Berger, who represents several students and non-students with disabilites who may sue the University for inaccessibility. Berger was unavailable for comment.
Faulkner said the price average came from national survey advertisements, but one ADA-savvy architect disagreed with the survey price estimates.
"If I could get a dollar or even 50 cents per foot to survey spots I'd be able to take an early retirement," said Pittsburgh architect Robert Dale Lynch.
Bathroom surveying would cost the most at 50 cents per square foot, but typical classroom space would cost about 3 cents per square foot, said Lynch, who surveyed the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. When surveying large amounts of space, often a computerized case history is built which speeds the project.
Instead, the University will undergo a unit-by-unit self study, starting with the Smeal College of Business Administration. The study will examine both program and physical access and will end by June 1994, according to the memo.
This deadline is more than one year past the ADA deadline set for last January.
The study will not include Pattee, which will be evaluated in conjunction with the east wing expansion project.
Shortly after President Bush signed the ADA in 1990, the University formed a task force to find the best way to meet ADA obligations, Faulkner said, but added he is unaware what the task force did because he did not attend any of its meetings.
In addition to the unit-by-unit study, the Office of Physical Plant will separately study bathroom and entrance accessibility of several buildings, such as Old Main, Willard Building and Boucke Building, according to the memo.
Faulkner said he did not know if the Commonwealth Campuses would be included in a self-study or examined externally, or when that decision will be made.
The campuses were not included in the present self-study plan because each campus has its own characteristics, Faulkner said. He added that non-academic "administrative" units would eventually be included with the academic units.
He was also unaware when the University will appoint a survey coordinator. One student, Dave Martin (senior-architectural engineering), has applied for the position. Martin, who uses a wheelchair, said the University is basically accessible but often not conveniently.
"People don't know what accessible means," Martin said.
The memo outlines several other University positions about growing inaccessibility complaints:
-- A central campus parking plan completed by May 30, 1993, including the newly-constructed Eisenhower Parking Deck which currently has no marked handicapped parking spaces.
-- Visual fire alarms for all new building project designs.
In addition to parking, the memo addresses snow removal and the possible relocation of the Office for Disability Services.
Ray Winters (graduate-educational theory and policy), calls the building, which lacks electric doors, inaccessible to some students.
Located in Boucke, the office is part of the upcoming physical plant survey. Although the University considers the building accessible and has received no accessibility complaints, the office will survey clients about a possible move, according to the memo. Faulkner said office director Brenda Hameister has not heard complaints about the building.
