My friends and I went to do a wheelchair accessibility review of ‘The Hall’ at Patriot Place presented by Raytheon for it opened today. The Hall is a museum of the history of football in New England and home of the New England Patriots Hall of Fame. It is adjacent to Gillette Stadium at Patriot Place . It is very wheelchair accessible and we had a lot of fun for much of it is an entertaining, interactive and educational experience.
You will find no problem finding a handicap parking space for there are many in a large parking lot right in front of ‘The Hall’ and Gillette Stadium. The double entry doors are both automatic! Once inside you will see a ticket counter on the right. The counter here is very wheelchair accessible. Price of tickets are: Adults $10; Seniors and Active Military $7; Children 5-12 $5 and Children 4 and younger FREE. There is no advertised discount for persons in wheelchairs but I was only charge $7 which is the same price for seniors.
‘The Hall’ is located on the 2nd and 3rd floor above the Pro Shop. A nice employee showed us to the elevator that takes you to the top level of ‘The Hall’. You will hear a speaker on the elevator welcoming you to the Boston Patriots which was the original name of the New England Patriots.
Once inside the museum you first see a large wall display with a picture of Robert Kraft, owner of the Patriots accepting the Super Bowl Trophy on February 3, 2002. The wonderful words he spoke this day are engraved on the wall: ‘Spirituality, faith and democracy are the cornerstones of our country. We are all Patriots. And tonight the Patriots are the World Champions”. Robert Kraft February 3, 2002.
I enjoyed the many displays that you can actively participate in and all are wheelchair accessible too! There is a hands on interactive trivia football game and when you get the answer correct your player moves yards further down the field.
A touch tone computer is very educational about all the history of football throughout New England. I had no problem reaching the computer from my wheelchair and when I touched a picture on the screen all the information appeared. I learned today that football started in 1862! I also didn’t know until today that there have been Women’s Professional Football leagues in New England since 1970! All the New England state’s football data on high schools and colleges are available as well.
All the displays throughout The Hall are very easy for me to see and touch while in my wheelchair. I really liked seeing the old football uniforms men wore back when football first began and the original logo the Patriots used. I still have some old tee shirts with this logo and learned today that it was created by cartoonist Phil Bissell in 1959.
Another display that is very accessible and I enjoyed is the displays of baby pictures and trying to guess what football hero it was of. It was easy for me to reach the picture to flip it over to see who was in the picture. I only guessed one right. You could also kick a football into a virtual football field goal that looked like fun too. I can’t kick a ball but probably could have thrown it.
A Raytheon Movie theatre showing the history of New England Patriots football located in ‘The Hall’ is very wheelchair accessible too. There is wheelchair accessible seating in the middle of the first row and it you prefer to sit in the upper last row a Wheelchair Lift can bring you up to your seat. Wow they really thought of everything to make this place fully wheelchair accessible!
A Hall of Fame Wall displays the names of the 13 New England Patriots who have been inducted into the New England Patriots Hall of Fame. I think most will remember all of these great New England Patriots football players: Nick Buonicoti, John Hanah, Jim Lee Hart, Bob Dee, Gino Cappelletti, Mike Haynes, Vito ‘Babe’ Parilli, Steve Nelson, Stanley Morgan, Bruce Armstrong, Andre Tippett, Steve Grogan and Ben Coates.
My favorite part of the visit here was seeing a replica of the real Lockers of Rodney Harrison, Tom Brady and Richard Seymour. Visitors are allowed to try on all the items in these lockers and Ric and I both had fun putting on Tom Brady’s uniform. The helmets were a little too heavy for me to bear and now I really appreciate how the players must feel wearing these heavy helmets but at least they protect themselves from a brain injury.
Large life sized mannequins dressed as New England Patriot football players are in a huddle and you can easily wheel your wheelchair into the huddle to get a great picture. The bench that the New England Patriot Players sit on at Gillette Stadium is set up in this room as well. You are also invited to pick plays of Bill Belichick and a computer will show the play. And Tony had fun learning how to tackle.
There is also a scale and you can wheel onto and push a button to get weighed to see if you are any where near the wieght of one of the New England Patriot’s lineman. My friends refused to get on the scale but I did and enjoyed it.
I was really surprised to see a Boston Duck Boat on display. It was one of the Boston Duck Boats that the New England Patriots stood in during the Super Bowl Victory Parade in February of 2002.
I found an old picture of me at this parade for I went to Boston to see this parade and remember it was a very cold winter day but my friends, me and the other cheering fans all warmly greeted the New England Patriots this day.
Before leaving I also got to see the recent Super Bowl Trophies that New England Patriots won and they are absolutely awesome to see up close. The ring they all got was magnificent as well. It has many diamonds and shines brightly. One was displayed in a glass encasement.
I would recommend all New England Football fans of all ages and abilities come to see this wonderful state of the art museum called ‘The Hall’.
I give ‘The Hall’ at Patriots Place FIVE PLUS STARS for wheelchair accessibility. They really thought of everything possible to make it accessible to all.