Mayerthorpe project to enable accessibility underway

By Laura Bohnert
On March 9, 2015, council for the Town of Mayerthorpe approved the recommended application for two platform lifts to be installed, enabling access to the town office and the Mayerthorpe Public Library.
According to Mayor Kate Patrick, incentive for the project began on March 3 when MP Eglinski of the Yellowhead Constituency alerted the Town of Mayerthorpe to a new program that was coming out, the Enabling Accessibility Fund.
The Enabling Accessibility Fund is a federal Grants and Contributions program that focuses on enabling workplace and community accessibility. The program offers a maximum of $50,000 per project in order to support the capital costs of construction and renovation projects that are associated with improving physical accessibility and safety.
To date, the program has funded more than 1,400 projects across Canada.
The application for the fund came out on Monday March 16, and the Town of Mayerthorpe will be submitting an application this week and the town is interested in putting wheel chair lifts into the town office, the Mayerthorpe Public Library, and the Mayerthorpe Exhibition Centre.
According to Mayor Patrick, the town is “very pleased that this fund is available to the municipality.”
“The program is important,” quotes Mayor Patrick, “because we have to be cognizant of the fact that wheelchair accessibility is necessary for access to all public places, and this funding from the government is going to make this a reality.” The program, Mayor Patrick continues, “will make accessibility possible for the places who couldn’t achieve it before. We are looking forward to this announcement to see if we can get our project accepted by the Grant Review Committee.”