JUSTICE DEPARTMENT REACHES AGREEMENT WITH BRANSON THEATER
TO BECOME MORE ACCESSIBLE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The White House Theater in Branson, Missouri, reached an agreement today with the Justice Department, ensuring the theater's accessibility to patrons with disabilities.

The agreement resolves an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance review conducted by the Justice Department of the White House Theater complex, formerly the Charley Pride Theatre and the Promise Theatre. Both the current owners of the White House Theater and the former owners of the complex, Empire Bank of Springfield, Missouri, cooperated with the Department in identifying architectural barriers to access for persons with disabilities, including persons who use wheelchairs, in the theatre's parking lot, lobby, public restrooms, auditorium, and backstage area, and in agreeing to remove these barriers. The White House Theater also agreed to comply with the ADA Standards for Accessible Design in renovating the theater auditorium to include dinner theater seating.

"I appreciate the efforts of the White House Theater to identify and remove barriers to access for its patrons with disabilities," said Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Ralph F. Boyd, Jr. "I hope that others in the Branson entertainment community will follow the lead of the White House Theater in increasing accessibility."

The Justice Department has negotiated other settlement agreements resolving ADA violations with other Branson-area public accommodations, including Bobby Vinton's Blue Velvet Theatre, Andy Williams' Moon River Theatre, and the Paradise Grill. Under today's agreement, the White House Theater, which will open for the 2002 season on May 1 and offer customers a combination dining/entertainment experience, will take the following steps to increase accessibility to its facilities:

• providing accessible ticket counters, concession counters, drinking fountains, and pay telephones in the theater lobby;
• installing accessibility features in the men's and women's public restrooms;
• installing at least 20 new designated wheelchair seating areas and fixed companion seating in the theater auditorium;
• implementing new ticketing policies for customers for disabilities, so designated wheelchair seating is held for customers with disabilities until all other seating is full, and so customers with disabilities never pay more for accessible seating than non-disabled customers pay; and
• renovating backstage dressing rooms and restrooms so that they are accessible to performers with disabilities.

Title III of the ADA prohibits discrimination by public accommodations and commercial facilities against persons with disabilities. In particular, it requires all existing facilities remove architectural barriers where removal of such barriers is readily achievable, and that altered areas of renovated facilities comply with the ADA Standards for Accessible Design to the maximum extent feasible. People interested in finding out more about the ADA or the agreement can call the toll-free ADA Information Line at (800) 514-0301 or (800) 514-0383 (TDD), or access the ADA home page at: http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm.

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