The Citizen, 2018-6-7, Page 14PAGE 14. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 2018.
Wedding barns and climbing farms
By Julie Sawchuk
Accessible for all
Whether it's the Walton Challenge Course at the Walton
Raceway, above, or the Brussels Four Winds Barn, right,
the goal of the Huron County Accessibility Committee is to
make as much of the world accessible as possible, whether
it's a climbing course or a wedding barn. (Photos submitted)
An Accessibility Advisory
Committee is required by the
Accessibility for Ontarians with
Disabilities Act (AODA)
legislation in cities, counties or
townships where the resident
population is greater than 10,000.
The goal of the committee is to
break down barriers for people with
disabilities in the community. I am
a volunteer member of the Huron
County Accessibility Advisory
Committee (HCAAC), which
meets four times each year to
discuss issues that have been
brought to our attention.
The people on this committee sit
on several subcommittees
including special events, education,
legislation and site review. It is my
opinion that we are a relatively
unknown committee. This came to
my attention again last week while
the site review subcommittee was
conducting two reviews of local
facilities.
Although the primary role of the
HCAAC is to provide accessibility
guidance to Huron County Council
and its municipalities, members of
the general public also are
welcome to be in touch for advice.
The new Brussels Four Winds
Barn weddings and events centre
made a lot of great accessibility
decisions early on in its
construction, but they knew they
had not thought of everything, so
they called on us to make some
recommendations.
On the day of our visit, heavy
machinery was being used to grade
the parking lot and exterior path,
which made access to the barn
tricky for me in my wheelchair, but
it will be great when it's all finished
and paved. They plan to have
wheelchair accessible parking
spaces close to the power -operated
main door.
The interior of the barn is truly
stunning and I was impressed by
how well they were able to marry
the old-fashioned style with
considerable access. The
washrooms on the upper floor have
a large accessible stall where they
plan to add grab bars and lower the
flush pull chain. The decision to
install motion sensor taps is great
for reducing the spread of infection
and they are also helpful for those
with limited reach or hand
function.
Building into a hill creates the
challenge of getting from one floor
to another. For now, an exterior
pathway is used with potential
plans for an elevator in the future
(how cool would that be in the
silo?). Inside, on the staircase, Four
Winds has used a sander to create
colour contrast on the edge of each
step — a great example of
accessibility "looking good".
Hopefully they will address the
safety of the railing at the bottom of
the stairs.
One challenge we discussed at
Four Winds was how to access the
loft, which is 18 inches above the
main level. With measuring tapes in
hand we looked at different ways to
install a ramp that not only met
code (five per cent slope or less), it
could also fit well with the
architecture of the old barn style.
Once the floors are sanded and
level (barn board dries unevenly)
and a few other minor tweaks, Four
Winds will be an accessible space
for families to enjoy celebrating
special occasions together.
After leaving the barn, the site
review subcommittee went right to
a field in Walton. There we met
Genny Smith from the Edge of
Walton challenge course. Genny
had been in touch because the Edge
of Walton is looking to reach out to
everyone, including groups of
people of all abilities, and she knew
they had some work to do.
As it was with the International
Plowing Match, making a field
(and forest) accessible is not easy,
but it's also not impossible. We
went through the necessities:
parking, path of travel, sanitary
facilities, services (i.e. the
challenge course), emergency
planning and trails. In a case like
this (not your typical building
space), it's good to set priorities,
but to also address the things that
are simple and don't cost a lot.
We sat down and helped make
some plans. Priority number one:
washrooms. Outdoor toilets are a
challenge, but with the right plans
and materials, one can have a
(seasonal) accessible washroom set
up in no time. Priority number two:
path of travel. Everyone needs to be
able to get from Point A to Point B
safely. A path of wood chips may
be good for some, but everyone can
travel along a boardwalk.
Number three is the tricky part:
how to make a challenge course
(low ropes course, high climbing
structures, tire wall) accessible. By
its very nature it is already a
challenge — so then how do you
make it inclusive?
That is where my (and the
committee's) expertise and
recommendations end — and the
research begins. Reaching out to
other groups with more experience
in accessible outdoor education,
visiting other locations which have
achieved inclusion and hiring an
expert are next on the path for the
Edge of Walton. After that, they are
on to even bigger ideas, so stay
tuned!
It is not the job of this committee
to enforce accessibility standards
set under the AODA, instead it is
our job to reach out to the public,
provide education and access to
tools that will help our community
become accessible to all. To
reach the Huron County
Accessibility Advisory Committee
call (519) 524-8394 or e-mail
accessibility @huroncounty.ca.
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