RE: Handicapped parking at Yorkton Gallagher Centre.
Dear Editor:
I am writing to ask your readers' input into the quality of handicapped parking available at Yorkton's Gallagher Centre. Currently there are 14 handicapped spots: 6 at the front (south) of the building and 8 at the back.
My concern is not so much the number of spots, but rather the location and quality of the spots at the back of the Gallagher Centre. While the handicapped spots at the front allow folks with mobility issues (like me) direct access to a sidewalk leading to the front door, the spots at the back force each handicapped person to walk across a parking lot where the snowy surface has ruts created by vehicles driving over it. Because of this safety issue, people who have hip or knee problems visiting the Physiotherapy Clinic or attending the noon-hour Aquasize for Arthritics classes don't like to use the back lot. It's way too scary in the winter. (Actually the best places for possible handicapped parking are currently saved for the Management and Staff of the Gallagher Centre.)
Last week, five of us, all attendees of the Arthritic Aquasize classes, tried to talk to the Gallagher Centre Manager with our concerns. In my opinion, we were met with a lack of cooperation. The Manager's response was that the Gallagher Centre provided 14 handicapped spots and that number met "code", so the issue was closed. When we suggested that more handicapped spaces be created at the front of the building nearest the sidewalk, we were told that handicapped spaces could not be added in the winter because the ground was frozen.
What do your readers at this newspaper think about this issue? When the 6 front handicapped spaces are filled, should Gallagher Centre attendees who have mobility issues be doomed to park in the handicapped spaces where their already-weakened traction is threatened by unevenly packed snow and icy surfaces?
Cheryl FraserYorkton, SK.
