I could be wrong but I think if the building's an historic one (on  
the Historic Register), they don't
have to adhere to ADA building guidelines, whether it's converted  
from flats to not.  But I leave that
to the legal experts on this list.

All I know is that when I looked at flats in this city a few years  
ago, I saw units that had been
designated as "accessible" but really weren't, completely.  For  
example, the flat I've been living
in for almost six years has two bedrooms, two baths, and I can only  
access one bath and one bedroom
closet. The doorways into the walk-in closet and the back bath are  
way too narrow for
my wheelchair, but my friend who has many disabled clients in her  
home health-care business, said
that the minimum is that the *essential* living spaces need to be  
accessible, not the whole living
space.  And this flat was the best I saw of the lot that I could  
afford - I saw a lovely one-bedroom
that might have done, but I wanted two bedrooms, and this flat would  
have been  $850 a month for
one-bedroom, and $1100 for a two-bedroom.

I did ask the management of my apartments if they could widen the  
doors but they refused, saying they
are not obligated to make changes that are unreasonable.

Kat

On 26 Mar 2006, at 10:17, Anthony Arnold wrote:

> Kat,
>
> I don't know if your explanation holds true in this case, the  
> building was
> used as the opera house, and the guy and his company decided to  
> purchase and
> make it into apartments.  They left the shell alone to the most  
> part and
> just turned it into apartments, would this still be grandfathered?
>
> Thanks,
> Anthony
> Visit my website at www.anthonyarnold.net
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Cerebral Palsy List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On  
> Behalf Of
> Kathleen Salkin
> Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2006 4:46 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Accessibility in apartments
>
> Anthony, if a building was built before a certain date, they're
> grandfathered under the ADA and don't have to build such things a
> roll-in showers.  In fact, I think the minimum requirement is that
> the apartment is accessible, not that the kitchen or bathroom has to
> have handicapped-accessible equipment.  I have a bathtub and not a
> roll-in shower in my apartment and my kitchen counters and stove
> aren't lowered for wheelchair users, and the top cabinets wouldn't be
> accessible if I couldn't stand to put my dishes away.
>
> Kat
>
>
> On 26 Mar 2006, at 02:14, Anthony Arnold wrote:
>
>> Friends,
>>
>>
>>
>> I definitely don't know all the details here, and I don't know what
>> the
>> Americans with Disabilities Act reads, and I'm sure that most of
>> you have
>> more knowledge behind the act.  However a local guy just purchased  
>> and
>> turned a older building into apartments, and he has a few units
>> wheelchair
>> accessible just like what he is required to do.  He had a open
>> house today,
>> and my parents went to see it just for the fun of going, but
>> however they
>> were surprised at his bathroom in the wheelchair accessible unit,
>> it has a
>> bathtub instead of a roll-in shower.  My dad personally knows the
>> guy, so he
>> questioned him on why he did a bathtub instead of a roll-in
>> shower.  He
>> responded saying that's what the ADA requires, which seems weird  
>> to my
>> parents, so I told them I would e-mail you guys to see what's up
>> with this.
>> This isn't the first time we have wondered about the Americans with
>> Disabilities Act.  Don't get me wrong, it's great but parts of it
>> are really
>> questionable.
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Anthony
>>
>>