A Day In A Wheelchair In Downtown Peterborough
/Peterborough DBIA Executive Director Terry Guiel calls it a "big, eye-opening experience" to see things at this level in the downtown core.
Dave Tuck, Terry Guiel and Andrea Dodsworth
Guiel was referring to his experience spending a day in a electric wheelchair—along with Peterborough Huskies General Manager Dave Tuck—in downtown Peterborough with local accessibility advocate Andrea Dodsworth, who lead the guys on the tour to show them what it's like to navigate stores and sidewalks.
Guiels spoke to 12 different business owners during the day about what they can do to make themselves more accessible, and met with Mayor Bennett to talk about the challenges and offer suggestions as to how to make the downtown more accessible. They also visited the Accessibility office at City Hall to discuss how they can work closer together on future accessibility projects.
After his experience, Guiel says it's important to be more pro-active when it comes to accessibility in the city. "It's the right thing to do to make yourself as accessible as possible," he says. "Our business community really wants to be accessible."
Guiels and Dodsworth realize there are a lot of costs associated with making older buildings and their architecture more accessible, but say there are smaller things that can be done right away—whether it's a ramp, the way that a door opens, the weight of a door.
Guiel and Dodsworth with Mayor Bennett
