Williams Lake accessibility advisory committee is hopeful a new 3-D project model will help raise awareness, committee chair George Atamanenko said.
In partnership with Thompson Rivers University, the Williams Lake Construction Association and School District 27 the committee wants to develop a 3-D model to be used for education, awareness and promoting a vision for the future, Atamanenko said in a report to city council at its regular meeting Tuesday.
“By educating our youth in the trades programs locally, we have a chance to change the future as they will understand it,” he said.
Committee member Stacey Miranda, the city’s manager of recreation, described the model as similar to a Barbie doll house, but with accessibility features.
“It would have wider hallways and doorways,” Miranda said.
Council unanimously authorized up to $4,000, plus staff time for the project, and agreed to write a letter of support for the committee’s grant application to the Rick Hansen Foundation.
Atamanenko said in 2017, the committee will continue trying to grow the diversity of its membership, promote accessibility awareness in all aspects of community life, and celebrate with an award of merit presented to a business or individual in the community during the first week of June.
Mayor Walt Cobb said the province recently announced $9 million in funding to work with the Rick Hansen Foundation to develop an accessibility policy for buildings in the province.
“You are all on the right track,” Cobb told Atamanenko during the meeting.