Accessibility
at the Toyota Center in Houston
Recently my friends L., P.,
and I went to a concert at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. L. is a
wheelchair user and I am mobility impaired but mostly ambulatory. It had been a
number of years since I was at the Toyota Center, and my friends had never
been.
We arrived downtown early,
and I was relieved that we found a van accessible parking spot on the first
level of the Toyota Tundra, the parking garage located next to the venue.
Parking had been one of my biggest concerns, so when we were safely in a space
more than thirty minutes before the venue opened, I was so happy.
The only accessibility issue
we encountered was in the parking garage. It should have been a quick and easy
jaunt for us to cross the street and enter the venue like everyone else that
was parked on the ground level, or in parking lots around the Toyota Center.
But there were three stairs to navigate from the parking garage to the street
with no ramp.
So we had to take the garage
elevator to the third level and use the skywalk to cross the street and enter
the Toyota Center. Then we had to take a venue elevator back to the main level
where our seats were located. It was an unnecessary waste of time and extra
walking for me. This wasn’t as much of an issue to get to our seats because it
we were so early, but it delayed us in getting back to the van after the show,
because we had to take two elevators when so many other people were also
waiting for elevators. We couldn’t just saunter back across the street like
everyone else that was parked on the first level of the garage.
Otherwise, accessibility was
good at the Toyota Center. We were in a wheelchair section that was roomy and had
good visibility because it was on a riser, so we sat higher than the rows of
seats in front of us. This meant that even when people stood, which they did
for most of the concert, we could still see fine. The riser vibrated with the
loud music, which was disconcerting at first, but we adjusted, especially once
the show started. Our section was also located in front of a nice refreshment
area, so we had easy access to snacks and beverages. The area was crowded when
I left during intermission to use the restroom and peruse the concert
memorabilia, but I was able to navigate through the long lines easily enough.
The accessibility in the
parking garage was irritating, but it didn’t ruin our night or dampen our
enthusiasm for the show. It was a fairly minor inconvenience in the grand
scheme of things. But it would have been helpful not to be forced into that
detour. I’m not an architect, so maybe there was some structural reason why a
ramp wasn’t possible. I’m skeptical of that, however. I think it was poor and
thoughtless planning. But this situation would not keep me from attending other
events at the Toyota Center. The staff at the venue was friendly, helpful, and
appreciative of our patronage. Overall the experience was a positive one.
librarianintx
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