Reinvestment will ensure Union can be enjoyed by all
By Emily Connor
While many might take the ability to run up flights of stairs or easily navigate a building for granted, limited mobility can make it difficult for some Union patrons to enjoy everything the Memorial Union has to offer. To ensure all members get the same Union experience, the Memorial Union Reinvestment (MUR) team is committed to ensuring the project focuses heavily on increasing accessibility throughout the building.
Built in 1928, the Memorial Union was constructed decades before the Americans with Disabilities Act(ADA) was passed and architects and designers began to think about designing for persons with limited mobility.
But even the quickest, most energetic, mobile and directionally-savvy person can find it difficult to navigate the Union’s 27 different level changes. While the Union’s layout and structure alone can cause confusion, some rooms can only be accessed by stairs cutting off accessibility for patrons in wheelchairs or on crutches.
On the west side of the building by the Park Street entrance, patrons must walk three flights of small stairs before even entering the building. In addition, no elevator exists in the west wing of the building, forcing patrons who cannot use stairs to exit the building out the Langdon Street entrance and travel around the entire building to get to the Union Theater lobby to attend a performance. The Class of 1925 gallery can only be reached by stairs. Many doorways, including the Play Circle Theater entrance, are not wide enough for powered wheelchairs to access.
By creating smoother transitions between rooms and areas of the building, the design team hopes to ease building accessibility and bring the Union up to ADA standards. To make the Union more easily accessible, MUR will make the following renovations in the hopes of improving the Memorial Union experience for all of its patrons.
- New entrance: As it is now, patrons have to walk down a small flight of stairs from what is currently the ‘bike circle’ to enter the building on the Langdon Street side of the west wing. A new major entrance at this location will create a direct path to the Terrace and an easy way to reach the Union Theater from Langdon Street without a single level change.
- Double door elevator: The addition of a west wing elevator with doors that open on both sides will allow for all patrons to easily maneuver in and out of the elevator and access the Union Theater and other areas of the Union that are currently inaccessible.
- Terrace elevation & ramps: The west section of the Terrace that is currently set below the level of Park Street will be raised to street level to ease access. Ramps will be installed to account for any stair level changes on other parts of the Terrace as well.
- Directional signage: New directional signage will help wayfinding and limit confusion for patrons. Significant improvements overall will create a better experience for patrons of all abilities to access and enjoy the building.
- Widening of doors: Any doors throughout the building that are not wide enough for manual or automatic wheelchairs will be removed and replaced with wider doors that will improve access.
To stay updated on MUR, check out the website or follow @MUReinvestment on Twitter.
