Gravenhurst investigating whether there's a need for handrails at the Graeme Murray Arena
Gravenhurst Council agreed to investigate whether there’s a need for handrails at the Graeme Murray Arena, in the July 16, 2024, meeting.
Councillor, Penny Varney, a member of the Accessibility Advisory Committee, expressed concern about the stairs having no handrails for the high populated area at the Centennial Centre.
She indicated that the stairs are challenging to get up, especially for people with physical disabilities or mobility issues that use the arena, currently having no support to climb them to get to the public seating area.
Varney initially recommended that Council consider the installation of handrails and to include it as a project in the upcoming Capital Budget.
She advised that it’s been an issue raised in the Committee for the past 10 years and nothing has been done about it.
She also suggested that the lack of rails may indicate the area is not “up to code” as far as the current structure goes, given that it was built decades ago and compared to today’s standards.
Mayor, Heidi Lorenz, indicated that Council wasn’t aware of the issue, and that the codes may have been different when the stairs were installed, therefore, may have been to code then, and expressed disagreement about the insinuation.
Councillor, Jo Morphy, inquired about why the issue is being brought forward to Council.
Varney reiterated that the stairs are challenging to climb and that it’s been an issue raised by various people in the public for the past 10 years, therefore, warrants Council’s attention.
Councillor, Randy Jorgensen, indicated that the new arena in Bracebridge doesn’t have handrails either and it was recently built according to today’s standards.
He also recommended changing the motion to evaluating the matter, rather than including it in the budget.
Council agreed with Jorgensen’s suggestion and amended the motion to exclude the recommendation to include it in the budget, and staff were directed to review the area and potential costs and to report back to Council in a future meeting.
