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Port of San Diego Sponsors Universal Design Workshop

Wednesday, 26 October 2011
Contact: John Gilmore 619) 686-7206

The internationally recognized architect who designed UC Berkeley's Ed Roberts Campus will be the keynote speaker at a Universal Design Workshop, which the Port of San Diego is hosting this Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011. Architects, builders, designers as well as the general public are invited to attend the free workshop.

The public workshop, aimed at improving access to buildings, parks and other amenities on the tidelands, begins at 1 p.m. in the Port Administration's Board Room, 3165 Pacific Highway, in San Diego.

The speaker, William Leddy, is a founding partner of the San Francisco-based architectural firm of Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects. UC Berkeley's Ed Roberts Campus is a center for disability rights and services.

Shirley Grothen, the Manager of the Port's Equal Opportunity Program, said the push for universal design is being led under the guidance and leadership of the Board of Port Commissioner's Accessibility Advisory Committee.

"Our goal is to further the implementation of universal design, which aims to make buildings, products and environments accessible to all people without any accommodations," Grothen said. In other words, such design allows use by people with disabilities and those who do not have a disability.

The Port of San Diego was created by the state Legislature in 1962. Since then, it has invested $1.7 billion in public improvements in its five member cities: Imperial Beach, San Diego, Coronado, Chula Vista and National City.

The Port oversees two maritime cargo terminals, two cruise ship terminals, 17 public parks, the Harbor Police Department and the leases of more than 600 tenant and sub tenant businesses around San Diego Bay.