Changes improve wheelchair accessibility at Main Building on UPEI campus
KATHERINE HUNT The Guardian
Health Minister Doug Currie, left, Charlene Stevenson and Brian Doucette, both of the Canadian Paraplegic Association P.E.I. division, and Paul Cudmore of the UPEI Accessibility Committee, were on hand Tuesday for the official launch of the newly improved Main Building that makes it easier for persons with disabilities to access the building and washrooms. Guardian photo
The 154-year-old Main Building on the UPEI campus is now more wheelchair-accessible as part of a seven-year implementation plan to make the campus more accessible to those with disabilities.
Newly constructed bathrooms with wider doors, lowered sinks, lowered mirrors, and lower urinals are some of many new changes about to happen around the campus.
Members of the Canadian Paraplegic Association, the UPEI accessibility committee and Health Minister Doug Currie were present at the official launch of the improvements Tuesday.
The university is making sure it notes everything it can do to change what needs to be changed, said Joanne McCabe, chair of the UPEI accessibility committee.
“It’s like a lens everything has to be looked at through to make sure everything is accessible,” said McCabe.
Three years ago, an audit was done of all the physical facilities on the grounds of the campus. As a result an implementation plan was devised with the goal of fixing the campus for accessibility in seven years.
It is funded by the CPA which will also go to other destinations in the near future for similar changes.
“We’re going to the (Queen Elizabeth) hospital in a couple of weeks,” said Myrtle Jenkins-Smith of the CPA.
Accessibility for those with disabilities is a major priority, said McCabe.
“It’s a very important part of any campus, and we’re focused on a variety of things.”
Changes to the Main Building include the work on the bathrooms, as well as widening all doors and upgrading elevators.
Work has also been done around the campus — flattening the sidewalks for a smoother surface and brightening the lighting for those who can’t see well. In the next four years more changes covering the classrooms, library, residences, labs and more will be made.
The Guardian is committed to encouraging intelligent discourse among our readers and to creating a forum where diverse views and opinions on a wide range of topics can be aired. The forum you are in now is a result of our continuing efforts to facilitate a dynamic online conversation among our readers.
This is a moderated conversation. Once a reader follows the steps to register and submit his or her comment it goes to a moderator for the website. Once it has been approved, your comment will be displayed on the website. A comment may be edited or deleted for reasons of content or language.
All readers wishing to join a conversation must first sign in and agree to the Terms of Usage, which explain the rules of acceptable content.
Wallace knows the story from Stratford, PEI writes: Stephen Pate is getting to Currie and Jenkins-Smith. They've opted for the photo-op, with feel good story, as a way to deflect from the larger issue of the Disability Support Program. This is the key program for disabled people and their caregivers on PEI. The government was elected with promises to fix this broken program. To date Currie has cut $35,000 from the DSP budget and giver Jenkin-Smith, through one of her companies, $200,000 to review the DSP. A year an a half later the review drags on. Little is expected, from the Jenkins-Smith review. Will Currie remedy the dire situation faced by disabled Islanders, or the spouses and families that struggle to provide care?So far there is nothing but a cold shoulder and this kind of deflection from the relentless Pate. This media manipulation on the part of the Minister and his campaign worker, Smith-Jenkins, is hard to see as anything but cynical.
Please let us know if this reader's comment breaks the rules explained in the Terms of Usage and is obscene, abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, defamatory, profane or racially offensive by selecting the appropriate option to describe the problem.
Do not use this to complain about comments that don't break the rules, for example those comments that you disagree with or contain spelling errors or multiple postings.
An what is left out...? from PEI writes: The story does not mention that the disabled parking spots that were taken away on campus have not been replaced, and yet utility, security and delivery vehicles continue to drive the paths of the university. Hypocrisy.
Please let us know if this reader's comment breaks the rules explained in the Terms of Usage and is obscene, abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, defamatory, profane or racially offensive by selecting the appropriate option to describe the problem.
Do not use this to complain about comments that don't break the rules, for example those comments that you disagree with or contain spelling errors or multiple postings.
NOTE
The management of this site emphasizes that it is in no way liable for persons, physical or legal, who are hosted here. Moreover, the managers of this site may not be held liable for errors and omissions that may slip into the information displayed in these reader comments. Everyone who submits a comment should read, understand and agree to the Terms of Usage for this section.
18
