Ashby Center for Disabled Gets State Funding

The Daily Californian
by Christine Lei
Contribution Writer
Friday, October 6, 2006

The proposed Ed Roberts Campus, shown in an artist’s rendition, would offer resources like meeting rooms and a fitness center.

A community center for disabled residents at the Ashby Avenue BART station is $2 million closer to being realized after receiving state grant funding last week.

The money will help finalize plans for the multimillion-dollar Ed Roberts Campus, to be located on land that is currently a parking lot on the east side of the BART station.

Planners describe the campus as a transit-oriented center with offices of nonprofit disability organizations and all-accessible resources such as meeting rooms, a computer center and a fitness center.

The development will also include a public elevator to the BART station from Adeline Street, accessible parking lot spaces and improved pedestrian access.

Despite receiving several grants over the last year, the ambitious project is still short on funds, said Berkeley transportation planner Matt Nichols.

"There is still an urgent need for additional funds to complete what will be possibly the most advanced disability rights and services center in the world here in Berkeley," he said.

The latest grant money comes from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, a state planning agency that oversees nine Bay Area counties.

The commission approved 11 capital grants last week, totaling $17 million, as part of a program seeking to improve transportation agencies' community relations.

Project organizers hope to break ground on the center in June 2007 and conduct between 18 months and two years of construction, said the project's president Dmitri Belser.

Research by the Center for Accessible Technology, where Belser is executive director, indicates the Ashby BART station and its parking lots are viewed by neighbors as a barrier to social and retail activity, Belser said.

While a proposed mix of commercial and residential development on what is now the station's west parking lot has drawn vigorous opposition from local residents, many who live near the station said the idea of the Ed Roberts Campus has won them over.

"There are at least two people (in the neighborhood) in wheelchairs, so we would welcome something like that," said Tony Hill, who lives near the station.

Belser said organizers have an agreement with BART officials to secure all needed funding before starting construction.

The campus is named after the late Edward Roberts, who became the first student with severe disabilities to attend UC Berkeley after being crippled by polio at age 14. He received his master's degree from UC Berkeley in 1966.

"Ed was someone who faced all challenges and broke all barriers," Belser said. "This project has been in the works for 11 years, ever since Ed died. We sat down and thought about what we could do to honor his life."

Michael Chang of The Daily Californian contributed to this report.

Contact Christine Lei at clei@dailycal.org.