The Sexsmith Curling club will soon be accessible to all residents. With the help of Grant money and donations, the club is adding a wheelchair lift to give people easier access to the upstairs event space.
Sexsmith Curling Club Board Member Darryl Vavrek says the idea for the lift was brought to them by two residents who offered to donate money for its construction.
“A local couple offered to give money to the board if they would build a wheelchair lift for the curling club because they are both elderly and have trouble negotiating the stairs to get up to the top viewing area.”
Construction on the two-story building started in late spring. Vavrek says that before renovations were started, the only way to access the viewing area was by using the stairs.
“If disabled people or people in wheelchairs had to reach the upstairs they would need to be carried up. For people that are disabled that can be kind of demeaning so this way they can do it on their own.”
The project should cost the club around $400,000 dollars to complete and is funded by donations and grant money from Farm Credit Canada’s AgriSpirit Fund which gives money to small towns to renovate or upgrade existing buildings. Vavrek says that with all the money combined they have enough to finish all the renovations.
“I applied to the FCC to the AgriSpirit foundation and they offered to help us out with a $15,000 grant so as of today we are at about 400,000 dollars in total. We pretty much have enough to finish the project.
Vavrek hopes renovations will be finished by mid-October in time for this year’s curling season at the end of that month.