RAMPING IT DOWN
When the Dreamland Theater was open, moviegoers in wheelchairs had a tough time getting into the building. Those using walkers, wheelchairs, crutches or who had walking impairments were relegated to using the building's side door on Oak Street.

Because new principal owner Haim Zahavi is renovating the building, he is required to provide handicap access through all doors. His current dilemma - opening the front doors of South Water Street to all audience members - could be reaching a positive conclusion this week.

Last night, the Historic Districts Commission was to have heard new plans for the main entrance to the Dreamland Theater from Zahavi's architect, Andy Bedar of the firm BKA Associates, Inc. of Brockton. The revised plans call for the controversial eight-inch concrete step at the front of the theater to be removed and for the lobby floor to be lowered, removing the need for a half-ramp, half-step or full ramp from the street up into the building, making the entrance of the building level with the sidewalk.

This new plan makes perfect sense to Mickey Rowland, chairman of the Nantucket Commission on Disability, who worries most about the half-andhalf ramp that could cause disabled movie patrons to encounter a crowd of people as they exit the theater. Rowland said Friday that he is working with Bedar to make the streetlevel access plan work.

Should the HDC approve the plan, Zahavi would not need a variance from the state's Architectural Access Board, which requires handicap access through the front doors of all buildings.

GERMAPHOBES UNITE! The Maria Mitchell Association is here to help parents and their children understand the human immune system with a two-hour workshop called "Grossology," part of its handson science program for children in grades one through six and their parents. This month's offering is this Saturday, March 24, from 12 to 2 p.m., and will immerse participants in their immune systems.

At lab stations set up in Maria Mitchell's Natural Science Museum, children and their parents will get to simulate scabs that form on cuts and recreate mucus that is secreted through colds and flu.

The workshop costs $10 per child/parent for non-members, $8 per child/parent for members and happens at 7 Milk St.

THE SOUNDS OF SUMMER On warm summer evenings, there's no place like the Brotherhood of Thieves' patio for dinner and drinks, according to one of its four owners, Edward Sanford.

Some neighbors of this 23 Broad St. restaurant told the Planning Board at its March 12 meeting that it does not agree with the Brotherhood's proposal to modify its special permit by extending outside patio service by one hour. Dining is currently permitted on the patio until 10 p.m., and patrons must be off the patio by 10:30 p.m.

Sanford told the board that he and the other three owners, Ted Burnham, E.J. Harvey and Larry Whelden, want to extend the patio's hours of operation to 11 p.m. and close it by 11:30 p.m. Neighbors of the Brotherhood - the Nantucket Land Council of 6 Ash Lane, Anne L. Davis of 10 Ash Lane, Michael and Sally Orr of 3 Quince St. and Matthew Parker of 2 Ash Lane - spoke against it, either at the meeting or via letter and email.

One neighbor, Elizabeth S. Whalley, of 52 Center St., said she supports the change.

Although Nantucket Police logged just two complaints last season, the department's primary concerns centered around noise generated by people on the patio. Hoping to facilitate some sort of compromise between the Brotherhood and its neighbors, the Planning Board continued the public hearing to the board's meeting on March 26 at 7

p.m. at 2 Fairgrounds Road. I