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Hughes
Stadium now more wheelchair accessible Sports Editor With
a winning streak for the Lions going on, more people are beginning to
show up for the home games. Some
are now finding it easier and safer to sit with the construction of a
wheelchair accessible area. Sallie
Beard, athletic director, said she thinks the reason the area was built
was because the other needed to be replaced. Bob Harrington, director of
the physical plant, said the old area was falling apart and needed to be
replaced. We
had wanted to replace it with a concrete slab, so we had a good solid
foundation for it, and we had the opportunity to do it this year,
Harrington said. The
former ADA area was made of wood, and after being reinforced last year,
Harrington still thought it might be the most opportune time to replace
it this year. He said the campus was doing some construction in the same
area, and decided it would be best to move the gravel from under the
bleachers. This was replaced with concrete, and the gravel was used for
the inside of the structure for the slab. It
kind of worked out real well for us to do it, Harrington said. It
was pretty much straightforward. He
said the handrails for the area have been ordered, but it will take
three weeks to manufacture them. There are temporary handrails up, but
the new handrails are metal. Because
the area protrudes from the stadium seating, it needed a foundation and
retaining walls. This needed to be completed before pouring the concrete
slab. The
total cost was $2,408 for pouring the slab and building the foundation
and retaining walls. |