Baker looking at park and community garden accessibility
By Olivia Bradbury, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Harbour Grace Deputy Mayor Gary Baker continues to prioritize accessibility in the town’s public areas and venues.
At past meetings, Baker brought forward the issue of accessibility, particularly at the town’s Danny Cleary Community Centre. This included adding a wheelchair accessible area near the rink for spectating, and banning airhorns due to the risk of hearing damage.
At the most recent Harbour Grace council meeting on August 24th, Baker gave a report on behalf of the parks and recreation committee. He said one of the topics discussed by the committee was accessibility in other parks around the region.
“We kind of targeted and zero in on the S.W. Moores Memorial Park for this time,” said Baker, “seeing that it could probably be an easier one to target at this particular point in time.”
The park is located across from the Town Hall on Water Street. It consists of several levels connected by short stone stairways. Baker said the first plan of action would be to make one section of the park accessible for those with mobility issues.
Baker then raised the community garden, located in Moriarty Park. He said the planters currently available for public use are in bad shape.
“A lot of them are falling apart,” Baker said. “The woodwork is rotting and so on.”
Baker said the committee is considering replacing the old wooden planters with galvanized, raised garden beds. Not only would that material be more durable, but raised beds would also be more accessible as they require less bending and kneeling from gardeners.