ACW Makes Accessibility Upgrades to Ashfield Park

by Bob Montgomery

Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh Mayor Glen McNeil says the municipality recently received a cheque from the provincial government in recognition of the accessibility features that were part of the renovations of their municipal office.

McNeil says accessibility is something the municipality takes very seriously. McNeil says Ashfield Park is located on the Lake Huron Shoreline in ACW and was discovered by a lot of residents outside of the municipality during COVID. McNeil says that additional traffic made it clear that the washrooms needed to be upgraded. She also says in their municipal office the entrance is all touchless door openings and there are accessibility features throughout the building. McNeil says building on that when they refurbished the washrooms at Ashfield Park, they incorporated accessibility features throughout the washrooms, including doors that automatically open when the pads are touched. McNeil says they could not have done that without the award from the province.

Accessibility advocate Julie Sawchuck has said several times that washrooms are the biggest challenge for people with accessibility issues and most people aren't even aware of those challenges until they're faced with an accessibility issue themselves. So, the mayor says it's something they take very seriously in ACW.