Press Releases

For Immediate Release

U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater to Present Grant to Berkeley Facility Serving the Local, National and International Disability Community

$300,000 grant to the Ed Roberts Campus for community planning & architectural design; inaugurates new chapter in the 30-year history of the Independent Living Movement of people with disabilities

Contacts:

Caleb Dardick, Ed Roberts Campus (ERC) Project Management
510/704-0130

Joan Leon, ERC Development Director
510/652-6583

Brenda Kahn, Senior Public Information Officer, Metropolitan Transportation Commission,
510.817.5773

Mike Healy, Manager of Media & Public Affairs, BART
510/464-7110

Who:	U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater
Other speakers:	Congresswoman Barbara Lee, 9th District; Berkeley Mayor Shirley Dean; BART Board Vice President Willie B. Kennedy; Mary V. King, Alameda County Supervisor and Commissioner, Metropolitan Transportation Commission; Ed Roberts Campus Secretary Jan Garrett; Michael Winter, Associate Administrator for Budget and Policy, Federal Transit Administration
What:	Press conference presenting a grant for the Ed Roberts Campus
When:	Saturday, June 24, 11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Where:	Ashby BART station, Berkeley, east entrance (enter on Woolsey Street at Adeline)

BERKELEY, Calif., June 21, 2000...U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater will present a $300,000 check to the Ed Roberts Campus on June 24 to fund architectural design of the facility as well as to fund community review and comment.

In awarding this highly competitive grant, the Department of Transportation recognizes the Ed Roberts Campus as a unique model of urban, transit-oriented development that makes the maximum use of the BART system's accessibility, revitalizes the Adeline corridor in the vicinity of Berkeley's Ashby BART station and provides critical services to the disability community.

The Ed Roberts Campus will be built on the eastern parking lot at the Ashby BART station. It will bring together under one roof nine disability-related organizations that share a common history. The facility is dedicated to the memory of Ed Roberts (1939–1995), an international leader and educator in the Independent Living/Disability Rights Movement.

"The Ed Roberts Campus is the most notable U.S. Department of Transportation project specifically linking together transit-oriented development with universal design for persons with disabilities. As such, the campus will be the preeminent disability center for the entire United States," said Michael Winter, associate administrator for budget and policy at the Federal Transit Administration.

The Ed Roberts Campus will house the offices of the nine collaborating organizations and offer an impressive array of disability-related services and programs in one totally accessible location. Preliminary plans suggest: a conference center, a library on the Disability Movement, a computer/media resource center, a fitness center/gym, a cafe, a child development center and Head Start, and a mix of neighborhood-serving retail and leased office spaces.

The nine partners consist of Bay Area Outreach & Recreation Program (BORP), Center for Accessible Technology (CforAT), Center for Independent Living (CIL), Computer Technologies Program (CTP), Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), Through the Looking Glass (TLG), Whirlwind Wheelchair International (WWI) and World Institute on Disability (WID).

"This will be a fitting memorial to Ed Roberts, takes the disabled community to the next level in providing services and will be a wonderful addition to the ongoing revitalization of South Berkeley," said Berkeley Mayor Shirley Dean.

The $300,000 federal Transportation and Community and System Preservation grant (TCSP) will be administered by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the regional agency responsible for planning, coordinating and financing transportation for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. TCSP funds are used to help achieve locally determined goals such as improving transportation efficiency; reducing the negative effects of transportation on the environment; providing better access to jobs; reducing the need for costly future infrastructure; and revitalizing underdeveloped sites.

"TCSP is an exciting and innovative program that recognizes the close link between transportation and the environment, as well as the importance of overall development for a community," Secretary Slater said. "It upholds the commitment by the Clinton administration to put people first."

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