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Kohn v. Darlington Community Schools7/1/2005
e a "permanent addition to" the Darlington High School stadium and track. First, examining the nature of the bleachers, we note that the home bleachers are a huge structure. They are 15 rows tall, over 100 feet long, and contain a 50-inch-wide walkway elevated 30 inches above the ground. They can seat nearly 1500 individuals. They adjoin a rather large press box and incorporate a wheelchair access ramp. While it is unclear whether they are anchored to the ground, they clearly are not readily moveable.
The Kohns focus on the fact that the bleachers can be disassembled and would not require any excavation to be removed. However, while the bleachers could theoretically be disassembled, that is true of almost any addition to property. Almost any structure that is assembled and installed can be dissembled and removed, even, as ITW artfully notes, a structure as large as the Eiffel Tower. See 63B Am. Jur. 2D Products Liability ยง 1631 (2d ed. 1997)(" he fact that a . . . improvement can be removed without harming the real property will not necessarily indicate that the . . . item is not an improvement to real property."). We believe the more pertinent inquiry is whether the item can be readily dissembled and moved. See Massie, 425 N.W.2d at 861 (waterslide not an improvement because it was removed from small lake after every summer season for a number of years). Given the nature of the bleachers and the subsequent additions thereto, it cannot be disputed that it would require a significant amount of time and effort to completely disassemble them and remove them from the field.
While the Kohns rely on the Minnesota Court of Appeals' decision in Massie, that decision is entirely distinguishable and actually beneficial to ITW in light of the distinctions drawn in that opinion. Massie involved a 30-foot tall water slide installed in a shallow lake that was bolted to concrete pads. Id. at 859. "The slide was installed at the facility in 1974 and was used during the summers of 1975-83. At the end of each summer, the city would unbolt the slide from its base and apparently store it until the next season." Id.
The court concluded that the slide was not an improvement to real property, reasoning:
The water slide was not a permanent addition to the property. While it was bolted to concrete pads at the bottom of the pond, it was designed to be and was removed every winter for storage. . . . The slide was a removable piece of playground equipment. . . . The slide was only used at the Twin Ponds area for three months out of the year and was permanently removed from the area after the 1983 season. There has been no decrease in the capital value of the Twin Ponds facility due to its removal.
Id. at 861.
Here, in contrast, the bleachers have never been taken apart or moved, much less permanently removed for an entire season. They are certainly not the equivalent of "a removable piece of playground equipment." Id.
Further, it is quite apparent that the bleachers, unlike the slide in Massie, were never intended to be moved or taken apart. As evidence of this, we again note the length of time they have remained at Darlington High School----over 30 years. The fact that Darlington has constructed a large press box adjoining the bleachers is further evidence of the intent that the bleachers be permanent. Moreover, we note that Darlington has made significant improvements to the bleachers themselves, in the form of a wheelchair accessible ramp, new railings, and new footboards. Further evidence of the intended permanency of the bleachers is the fact that the utility of the stadium and track would be seriously diminished were the bleachers removed
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