The facility I chose to assess for this assignment is the Phoenix Municipal Stadium, which is located at 5999 E. Van Buren in Phoenix. This stadium is used for Arizona Fall League, Men’s Senior Baseball League World Series, National Adult Baseball Association World Series, and what it is mainly known for is the Oakland A’s Spring Training home field. During baseball spring training which was the month of March, I worked for the Oakland A’s everyday at their stadium where I helped with the stadium promotions and stadium operations. Every game it was always a busy crowd and something was always happening. When assessing the stadium I started out with the parking. The parking lot is across the street from the stadium so everyone parks their cars across the street and then they have to walk up this bridge that overpasses the streets then leads you to the front gates of the stadium. Right next to the stadium they do have a small lot for the professional players buses and handicap spots. It was smart to put the handicap spots right next to the entrance, but they were limited so the people that could not get handicaps spots had to park in the lot across the street. It is kind of a long walk from the stadium to the from the lot across the streets, so we have a people that drive around in golf carts to go pick up those people who have difficulties walking long distance.
Next part of assessing was the ticketing process. One of the games I helped with taking tickets and we stand right next to the turn-style with very little room for someone to go around it, especially if you are in a wheel chair. Whenever we got someone that was in a wheelchair or even baby strollers, they could not go through the gate that their ticket was scanned they had to then go around to the last gate that had no turn-style. This was interesting to me because we make the handicap person pretty much do more work after their ticket is taken and then they have to go down to another gate to get through. There is no sign showing what gate to use, the ticket takers had to direct the person where to go. Once inside the ballpark our concourses are full with people walking. There is concession stands set up everywhere along the walkway. All the stands were at a certain height so if someone in a wheelchair wanted to order something the vendor would have to go around and give to them what they ordered.
Now when the ballpark has people that are handicap come, they do have sections for those that are in wheelchairs since they are not able to go up or down stairs. The area they have them are in each section and a nice view and easy to get to. There was actually one game where I had a woman come up to me asking for a wheelchair for her grandma. When I went to go ask for a wheel chair I was shocked and was told we do not carry any wheelchairs only the EMT’s have them and that is for emergency use only. I told the woman that they are supposed to provide their own wheelchair. Also with seating we do have suites, which are next to the press box, so if handicap people bought tickets to sit up there we do have an elevator that takes them up. Another place for seating are the two grass picnic areas, one in left field and the other in right field. The one in right field was for media lunch and they would block it off with gates so you can only get to it from the stairs. There were absolutely no ramps, but once the game starts they take down the fencing and at that point you do not need to use the stairs. In left field they have the bigger picnic area where they sell more food too. Here they do not have a single ramp going up to it so there is no way a handicap person can sit up there. All of their staircases have railing on both sides for those who need something to hold on to when using the stairs.
The rest rooms at the ballpark are located at three different sections of the park and very easy to find and access. The only problem is a lot of the people that come to our stadium immediately ask one of the workers where there is a bathroom because there is no really big sign saying where the restrooms are. The only thing we have showing where everything are located is this map at the entrance of the stadium showing where seats are located and restrooms. Once people find the restrooms it is a one-doorway entrance and there is one handicap stall that is located in the bathroom. All the sinks in the restroom are the same height but are easy for people in wheelchairs to access with no troubles on their own. Outside the restrooms we have water fountains that are located. There is two, one tall one and one short one. The tall one is of course for people that are not kids and we have the short water fountain for young kids and handicap accessible.
Lastly, the thing I noticed was the scoreboard. Our scoreboard is not high tech and does not show much, but when the announcer is speaking those that are deaf and hard of hearing would not know what he is saying at all. The only thing they can follow is watching the numbers on the scoreboard, but otherwise they have no idea what promotions are going on in between innings. Overall I would say this ballpark is not really centered around the ADA facility requirements. When we do have a fan that does need help with accessibility our staff does all we can to help that person out, so they can get a great experience at our ballpark.
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