Prince George, BC- The  washrooms  at civic  facilities need to be upgraded in order to accommodate all  citizens, including those on  motorized scooters.

That  was some of the information presented by Dorothea  Ellis.  She  is a motorized scooter user, and  scoped out the ability, or inability to access washrooms. 

She had high praise for the Pine Centre Mall  facilities,  calling them spacious and accessible for all.  But,  other, civic owned facilities are not so user friendly,  and could use  automatic door openers and possibly  automatic locks to  make  opening, closing and locking easier.

“These recommendations absolutely need to be endorsed” said Councillor Lyn Hall but he added that is something the next Council  will have to  deal with.

Dorothea Ellis  was successful last  year when she made a presentation to  push for  improvements to sidewalks in the city, saying the  uneven surfaces and curbs were a  safety hazard for those on motorized scooters.

Council has  agreed to  call on Administration to develop a report on  the issues  surrounding the  matter of  accessibility to  all civic facility washrooms.

City Manager Beth James suggested  that when the new  Council is  sworn in,  that the terms of reference for  committees  and appointments to such be  examined and  this scope of work   be included in that committee work.