Although the cold, wet weather kept patrons away, the Central B.C. Railway and Forestry Museum was still proud to show off their improvements.
The River Road museum hosted an afternoon dedicated to their new, inclusive site. The accessibility project, launched last October, has made strives to allow a broader range of visitors to the museum.
One of the changes made was the paving of crushed stone paths with smooth asphalt to allow wheelchairs, people with walkers and parents with strollers a smoother trip around the site.
Steep grading was lowered and boardwalks and ramps were built to allow easier access to the chainsaw building and Yalenka bunkhouse, explained executive director Ranjit Gill.
"Everything is accessible, except for our rolling stock," Gill said. There is even a car on the minirail which can accommodate a wheelchair.
For Gill, who came from a background of working with seniors, it was important and necessary to make these changes.
"Life is measured by your memories," Gill said, and by not having an environment where the less mobile, especially seniors could comfortably come, was limiting the sharing and making of those memories.
Since completing the majority of the work - there is still work to be done to finish a patio with wheelchair seating - Gill said there has been a great response from visitors. "School groups and seniors homes, they just adore being here," she said.
The completion of the accessibility project was made possible through a variety of funding sources. These were the federal government's Enabling Accessibility Fund, Rotary Club of Prince George Nechako, Prince George Community Foundation, Royal Canadian Legion Branch 43 and Husky Energy.
