Coming Soon to a UA Theater Near You: Better Access for the Disabled

United Artists Entertainment agreed Tuesday to make its theaters more accessible to the disabled in a lawsuit settlement that federal authorities hope will become a model for industry compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act.

The company, which with its 2,300 screens is one of the nation’s largest theater owners, agreed to modify existing theaters to add parking spaces, access ramps and toilet facilities, as well as certain features to give the disabled better access to concessions.

“Thanks to United Artists, we can now tell moviegoers with disabilities, ‘Access is coming soon to a theater near you,’ ” Assistant Atty. Gen. Deval L. Patrick said.

The suit said that theaters segregated wheelchair-bound moviegoers to the back row, where they couldn’t sit with family or friends.

Under the settlement, the disabled won’t be limited to space in the rear of theaters, because the modifications are to provide at least two spots where those in wheelchairs will be able to sit near companions in standard seats. The company also will make sure that 1% of aisle seats have folding or removable aisle-side armrests to accommodate wheelchair users and people who have difficulty walking.

The settlement came three years after a group of Californians joined with an advocacy group, the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, to file suit under a 1982 California law. The Justice Department also had been investigating complaints about the concern since 1992.

United Artists denied breaking any law, but also said it would pay more than $500,000 to disabled individuals to settle the lawsuit.

The economic impact of the agreement was far from clear.

Government officials and UA said they didn’t know whether the thousands of dollars in added costs per theater would be passed on to customers or absorbed by the company, which is based in Colorado.

Justice Department officials said they have only rough estimates about the extent of demand for the added access, based on the size of the disabled population.

Patrick said he believed that increased patronage by the disabled could more than pay for the modifications. But Gene Hardy, UA’s chief counsel, was not as confident. “It’s a market we really haven’t tested yet,” he said.

The settlement suggested the huge size of the government’s task in enforcing the disability act, which when approved in 1990 was hailed as the most sweeping civil rights law since the 1960s.

This agreement was the first such deal with a major theater concern, despite a huge backlog of complaints and six years of enforcement efforts. About 50 other Justice Department actions against movie theater companies are pending.

The federal disabilities act requires a certain level of alterations in public accommodations built before Jan. 26, 1993, and sets tougher standards for those built after that date.

Under the settlement, the company has until 2001 to modify 420 theaters that it built before Jan. 26, 1993. In the 22 theaters built since that date, the company must complete half the work by Sept. 30 of this year and the remainder by June 30, 1997.

Under California law, the company will pay a total of $70,500 in damages to 12 plaintiffs named in the private lawsuit and set up a $429,000 fund for disabled moviegoers who encountered physical barriers at California theaters built after July, 1982. The California law enables disabled people to seek compensatory damages on their own.