Accessibility is something a large portion of the Canadian population deals with every day.
The City of Lethbridge made an action plan three years ago to make public facilities more accessible to all residents and visitors.
The city has finished a few major projects in the last year, the new CASA building was finished in May of 2013, and recently the Enmax Centre and the Helen Schuler Nature Centre were renovated.
Global News wanted to see how the city fared with it’s plan to make Lethbridge barrier free.
We recruited a man who knows all too well the challenges someone with a mobility impairment can face on a daily bases. We asked Chris Schamber to grade the new CASA building with a pass or a fail.
Schamber is confined to a wheel chair. He relies on it for his independence, but that feeling of empowerment can be snuffed out with the simplest oversight. He says all buildings have the ability to be accessible to everyone, “there is always improvements to be made as new technology is coming out all the time.”
Schamber started his tour at the curb, he added that if a person in need of handicapped parking can’t access a stall or find a wide enough stall, they can’t access the building, “They work for everybody, big improvement from the past. They are nice and wide, they even beat the set standards.”
The next task, getting inside. The automatic door button is on the side of the building, a bit too close to the door itself. “The button should have been further away because right now the door opens on me, I can’t get around it,” adds Schamber.
The water fountains are suspended from the wall, allowing wheelchairs to roll underneath, “It works ideal because you can pull right under, fill a water bottle or take a drink, it’s very nice,” Shamber also added.
In the bathrooms, automatic features make things easier for users says Schamber, “they have nice big rooms for everybody to access and do what they need to do including the lower change table for mom’s who are in a wheelchair. Plus, these automated sinks are good, and you can wheel right under them.”
Last on the tour – the elevator, “It’s a little tight for my ability, but it’s not bad. The buttons are in the corner, which if you can’t reach like me, that doesn’t work,” adds Schamber.
After the tour, Schamber gave the CASA building a grade, “I would say a good pass. It’s a B+ to a A-“.
With new facilities like CASA getting a passing grade, it has set a higher standard for existing facilities like the Helen Schuler Nature Centre. It just finished renovations, and there was major room for improvements when it came to accessibility.
“We were probably as much of an F as you could have,” says Coreen Putman, Department Coordinator at the Helen Schuler Nature Centre.
The public facility has added multiple features throughout the building, not just meeting set standards, but exceeding them with the use of federal grant money.
“With our front doors, you push the button, the first door opens and then you have a little bit of time before the second door opens. We were also able to then add some of those push button features inside the building as well, because of the grant money. The fountains are set up so you are able to roll a chair underneath of them, it’s much more accessible. I’d like to think we have hit an A, maybe an A-,” says Putman.
The City of Lethbridge acknowledges it can always be more accessible. Ashley Matthews, Manager of Recreation and Culture for the city says they plan on continuing to strive for an inclusive community, “In our existing facilities, there is some restrictions, unfortunately. But, as we build new or we do major renovations to our facilities that’s when we have to step-up and really make the changes and make these facilities barrier free.”
The city says it’s next major renovation project will be the Henderson swimming pool. It will be accessible to all Lethbridge residents, with improvements to the change rooms and pool area.
The next new facility will be the new leisure aquatic centre on the city’s west side.
Comments