After disabled-parking outrage, Seattle Center changes plans

Admitting that the Seattle Center didn't handle the situation well, director Robert Nellams today announced that an additional 19 disabled street-parking spaces will become available for patrons of the Intiman and Seattle Repertory Theaters.

When patrons began receiving letters from the Center and the Rep that the 13 disabled spots between the Rep and Intiman theaters were being removed to build a memorial garden, they flooded the Center with complaints.

Many longtime ticket holders said they would cancel their subscriptions and weren't satisfied with promises by the Center that drop-off spots would be available in front of the two theaters.

"We possibly could have handled it better," Nellams said at today's City Council Parks and Seattle Center Committee meeting. "Once we heard from the community, we have taken steps to continue our ethic and responsibility."

Jill Crary, the Center's redevelopment director, said it plans to take a block of Warren Avenue between Republican and Mercer Streets and the block of Second Avenue between Mercer and Roy Streets and convert the street parking spaces to disabled only in the evenings and on Sundays. That will open up 19 disabled spaces, nine on Warren Street and 10 on Second Avenue.

In addition, the Center is working with the Rep to use the theater's stage door to help disabled patrons get into the theater, she said.

The street spaces will be much closer than the Mercer garage, where the disabled patrons were told they would have to park beginning in October when construction begins on the 1 ½-acre Peter Donnelly Memorial Garden. Donnelly, a longtime arts advocate, died in March.

City Councilman Tom Rasmussen, chairman of the parks committee, said he opposed moving the parking to the Mercer garage and was pleased to hear the new plans.

"I am pleased that they will be designating parking places for people with disabilities closer to the theaters than the Mercer garage," he said. "Also, they will continue to work with people with disabilities to be sure the plans are meeting their needs."

The park is being funded by a $1 million grant, with an additional $500,000 from the Seattle Center Foundation and a city matching grant of $1.5 million.

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com