AMHERST — A permanent retractable ramp at a downtown performance venue is an acceptable means of getting the public and others onto the stage when necessary, according to a recent decision by a state agency.
The Architectural Access Board, at its July 24 meeting, gave approval to a variance request submitted by architect John Kuhn on behalf of The Drake at 44 North Pleasant St., building owner Barry Roberts and the Downtown Amherst Foundation, which operates the venue. Kuhn is the vice president of the foundation.
The board’s decision, signed by Dawn Guarriello, who chairs the seven-member commission, approves the ramp under rules that govern access to performance areas and the height of handrails on a ramp.
The decision also brings to a close a complaint brought by Amherst resident Vira Douangmany Cage that The Drake had been given preferential treatment by town officials compared to Hazel’s Blue Lagoon, a Black-owned restaurant and nightclub at 41 Boltwood Walk.
Cage brought the matter to the Human Rights Commission in February contending that she had been discriminated against by both the town and The Drake because no permanent ramp was installed there, even though municipal inspectors required a permanent ramp for a stage at Hazel’s. Cage also filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Office on Disability.
A report by Pamela Nolan Young, the director of the town’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion department, though, found no evidence that town officials or the Business Improvement District, which oversees the nonprofit Downtown Amherst Foundation, were biased in their approaches, and that both had been required to have ramps that met Architectural Access Board standards.
The decision by the state agency came following a positive recommendation from the town’s Disability Access Advisory Committee in June that the retractable ramp, 16 feet long and stored under the stage and pulled out whenever required, was an appropriate solution for accessing the stage.
Cage said she feels the variance approval means that The Drake is no longer in violation of its certificate of occupancy, which should have been issued only on a temporary basis so that a variance application to the state would have been triggered even without her complaint.
Amherst BID Executive Director Gabrielle Gould, though, previously said the certificate of occupancy has been valid and The Drake was in good standing because the venue has always been entirely accessible under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
