Elevator planned for accessible waterslide at new Regina aquatic centre

Regina’s mayor said the city will be adding an elevator to an aquatic centre design to make the new facility’s waterslide accessible.

The new aquatic centre is currently in the design phase and will be built in the Taylor Fields land behind the Lawson Centre.

“It will be put into the design phase and so it won’t be an add on after the fact,” Regina mayor Sandra Masters said. “We know that it’s going to have a very high ceiling and so the idea is that you put an elevator in there to access the second level which will then be able to access the high waterslide.”

There is currently no timeline for when construction will begin.

Regina residents have been calling on city council to improve accessibility for disabled people at city facilities, including the outdoor pool at Wascana.

Masters told Global News that adding an elevator at Wascana would cost roughly $1 million.

Instead, city council decided to allocate that money to increasing accessibility at five other recreational sites in the city.

“It might be more beneficial and touch more people than investing $1 million in a waterslide at Wascana,” Masters said.

She said the “door isn’t closed” when it comes to considering an elevator add-on at Wascana and still might be considered in the future.

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