Editor, Times-Union:

I just returned home from North Pointe Cinemas after seeing the movie “The Greatest Showman.” I first saw the musical last weekend with my husband and returned today to see it again with my children.

Both times I saw the movie, it was playing in theater number five at North Pointe Cinemas. While the new seats the movie theater have installed certainly are comfortable, in theater number five there is only one companion seat for a person who is in a wheelchair. I use a power wheelchair and often take my two children to see movies at North Pointe Cinemas.

It is disappointing to not be able to sit with my companions when I go to a movie. I understand this might happen to able-bodied individuals if they choose to go late to a movie, but my expectation is that when I go to movie I will be able to sit with my companions, regardless of the fact that I am in a wheelchair. Before leaving the theater, I slipped into another movie and noticed in that theater the wheelchair seating was set among rows, so that a wheelchair user could sit with a much larger group of companions.

I appreciate that there is a movie theater here in Warsaw. I don’t appreciate the lack of companion seating in theater number five, and possibly other theaters in the cinema, I did not take a complete tour to view all of the seating arrangements. I rarely attend movies with just one person. North Pointe Cinemas obviously just made a financial investment in their theaters by upgrading the seats. It is a shame that at the time they did the  improvements, more thought was not put into wheelchair seating.

I would encourage all Warsaw and Winona Lake business owners to think about wheelchair users who are potential customers. Can I get into your place of business? Do you have accessible parking where the wheelchair ramp in my van can come down? Do you have a door that is easy for someone in a wheelchair to open? Are your restrooms wheelchair accessible?

Do I have to be separated from the people in my party? Happily, being in a wheelchair has not hindered my ability to shop, enjoy entertainment, attend sporting events, or savor meals in restaurants. If your place of business is not accessible, then I am not interested in being a customer.

Alina Willig

Winona Lake, via email