I’m writing to urge the Architectural Access Board (AAB) to extend the compliance deadline for Greenfield Garden Cinemas, the only small multi-screen theater in Franklin County.
The owners of this theater have worked tirelessly and invested tens of thousands of dollars for upgrades related to ADA, a vitally important law. They’ve kept movie prices affordable and the theater hosts a variety of movies.
The cinema is vintage from 1929 and, as architects know, maintaining historical buildings and upgrading them for accessibility can be complicated, not to mention expensive.
A vast swath of western Massachusetts will be much better when AAB extends their compliance deadline. The extension is a reasonable request, whereas the AAB’s $1,000-a-day fine will kill a small rural business and the cinema may never come into compliance.
Thank you for your consideration.
Joseph J. White
Greenfield