Wichita State’s Student Senate approved the first phase of renovations to the Campus Activities Center Theater to increase the building’s compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Senate Bill to approve funding passed despite heavy opposition from Senator Victoria Owens — who has since resigned — and Advocate Emeritus Annie Wasinger, who claimed the presentation did not have enough information and Phase 1 did not include disabled performers. 

The CAC Theater was closed on May 18 to assess what needed to be done so the building could comply with ADA, meaning it would become accessible for people with disabilities. Now, the Student Government Association is collaborating with the Rhatigan Student Center Board of Directors to renovate aspects of the CAC Theater to better comply with ADA requirements. 

At the weekly Student Senate meeting on Oct. 22, the senate approved funding for Phase 1 of the estimated $8 to $12 million project. Twenty-one voted for the bill, three were against it and two abstained.

It will cost $300,000, with SGA and the RSC BoD paying $150,000 each. SGA’s $150,000 will be pulled from the association’s Special Projects Fund. 

While Wang said at the Senate meeting that the full project would cost $8 to $12 million, Executive Director of the Rhatigan Student Center and Secretary of the RSC BoD Kevin Konda said the full project would cost $20 million. SGA Advisor Gabriel Fonseca has not responded to questions regarding the discrepancy. 

Phase 1 of the CAC Theater renovation — which is the only phase voted on during the Oct. 22 senate meeting — includes ADA compliance upgrades to the front doors, a lift for individuals with mobility disabilities at the front steps, a family bathroom that is ADA compliant and additional seating for wheelchair users in the middle-back seating area.

“I think one important thing that I’m trying to clarify for folks … is by no means necessary will this even — this first round — even remotely make the building 100% accessible,” Fonseca said. “This will make the building a little more accessible to the immediate issues that we have received the most feedback and/or complaints about.” 

SGA recently passed a bill to use $200,000 of the Special Projects Fund to hire an attorney for student use, and Fonseca reported that the fund was over $1.1 million before the money for the CAC Theatre renovations was pulled. 

What do we know? 

Each Senate bill goes through a questioning and debate process. 

During the questioning period, Owens, who has since vacated her position, asked if SGA or the RSC BoD consulted with disabled students in order to understand what needs best suit them. 

In response, Fonseca said SGA and RSC BoD members worked with architects that specialize in the specific renovations needed, and the architect consulted with disabled individuals, according to Fonseca. 

Fonseca said the architects worked with Wichita State campus coordinators as well as the “folks that they have in their company that specialize in this kind of work.” 

When Owens’ question regarding possible consultants was brought up to Konda, he responded saying that ADA compliance is based on regulations from the state.

“You’re either handicap accessible or you’re not,” Konda said. 

The architect for the project was not present at the Senate meeting. The firm that was used, Alloy Architecture, is the university’s contracted architecture firm, according to Konda. 

The two-and-a-half-minute presentation from Wang did not include plans for the final project. 

Owens motioned to postpone a vote on the bill to the following Senate meeting in order for Wang to present the final project plans and details for Phase 1. The Senate voted the motion down. 

Owens asked for clarity about the final project. 

“Do you kind of have a more formal proposal plan that outlines all four phases of the project that we can look at when we’re making our decision to fund the first phase?” she asked.

“I do not have those, but I will send them out,” Fonseca said. “If you can close your eyes and pretend with me, I’ll kind of articulate how it works.” 

Fonseca then verbally described the total project, and ended his explanation by saying, “While there’s not a visual, my hope is you were able to visualize how I kind of articulated that.”

Speaker of the Senate Matthew Phan told The Sunflower in a follow-up interview that Senate chairpersons were informally told about the bill one to two weeks prior to the Oct. 22 meeting and it was then the chairpersons’ responsibility to notify the senators about the upcoming bill. 

If chairpersons fail to notify senators of the bill, the senators are sent a copy one to three days prior to the meeting, Phan said. 

“Whenever (senators) get the bill, they do see who the primary author is of the bill, and so senators are encouraged that if they have any questions before the Senate meeting actually starts, that they can always reach out to the author of the bill,” Wang said. 

Wang said that she received no questions from senators prior to the Oct. 22 meeting. 

One senator’s opposition

Owens was the first senator to speak during the debate period for this funding bill. Owens spoke in opposition against the bill as it was presented. 

She first clarified that she believed the CAC Theater needed renovations to better comply with ADA guidelines, but she also believed that members of the RSC BoD should have been present along with the architect that was hired. 

Fonseca said board members were present — some board members are in SGA positions, including Phan, Wang, Fonseca and others  — but none of the board members spoke on behalf of the board. 

Owens also brought up the lack of a complete plan presented at the Senate meeting. 

“Without those phases in here, I have not done my due diligence as a senator, as a person a part of the disabled community and as the president of D.R.E.A.M. if I do not see that, understand it and know what I’m allocating with this much money,” Owens said. “I just cannot in good confidence and faith vote for this legislation at all.” 

D.R.E.A.M. — which stands for Disability Rights, Education, Activism and Mentoring — is a Wichita State student organization that focuses on activism for students with disabilities. 

Owens contacted Wasinger, an SGA advocate who graduated last year. Wasinger was granted emeritus status by last year’s senate — meaning she is able to speak in the senate, but not able to vote. 

During her time in SGA, Wasinger created the Accessibility and Disability Pride Task Force. Wasinger now works to make theaters accessible for disabled stage performers, according to Owens. 

Owens read a message she received from Wasinger during the meeting: 

“The CAC Theater hosts Songfest and other events that feature student performers. But if a theater is to be accessible under the ADA, then it must be accessible to both performers as well as audience members. I understand a lift out front and bathroom renovations audience members with mobility issues, but we have to ensure that backstage — as well as the ways the performers enter — is accessible or we are spending this large sum on a renovation and a disabled student who wants to perform will inevitably file a complaint with the US Access Board.”

Fonseca said in a follow-up interview that he believes that some aspects of ADA noncompliance can be grandfathered in, meaning that buildings erected prior to the enactment of ADA have lesser restrictions. 

Buildings built between 1991 and 2010 must follow the 1990 ADA standards, and buildings built before 1990 don’t have to comply with any ADA standards. Because the CAC Theater was built during the 1968-69 school year, it wasn’t required to comply with ADA standards. 

The ADA does require aspects of a building to comply with the standards once the specific aspects undergo renovation. For this reason, the renovations made to CAC Theater must make the renovated areas ADA compliant in order for the building to reopen. This rule only applies to the parts of a building that are being renovated, not the building as a whole. 

Konda said that he expects Phase 2 of the renovation to focus on the stage. 

“This is a great thing for us to prevail as if we are doing for the disabled community, but without truly understanding the experience, we are woefully under-prepared for really truly adequately providing solutions for these issues,” Owens said. 

Owens and Wasinger have not responded to requests for interviews.