Prince George, B.C. – It is cause for celebration. Today, the Canada Winter Games House was able to invite, for the first time,   the Sport Leader for Wheelchair Basketball, Pat Harris, into their second floor office at Canada Games House. The invitation made possible by the completion and operation of a new elevator in the building at 5^th and Quebec Street.

 

Wheelchair bound Harris is assisting the Games in assessing their accessibility for athletes of all abilities. The BID Group of companies, which owns the building, installed the elevator as part of their partnership with the Canada Winter Games.

“We’ve done a test event for wheelchair basketball at Duchess Park Secondary School, and that facility is fantastic” says Pat Harris “It will be a great venue for wheelchair basketball.”

 

He says they will be soon starting to look at other sites for accessibility. “The Canada Games have really made a commitment  to access and inclusion in partnership with the City to renovate some of the older buildings and certainly to provide access in the new buildings such as Kin 1.”

 

The elevator was “very expensive” says 2015 Winter Games CEO Stu Ballantyne, “and we certainly appreciate BID Group   providing the elevator. We want to make sure all the competing athletes who have mobility issues and all the people who live here have better access to the sport and non sport venues   around Games time, and hopefully that will last long beyond the Games. It’s one of those things you can do for legacy.”