The long-awaited accessibility mat on White Rock's historic pier is now a reality.
Already in use by visitors to the pier, the mat is expected to be fully installed by Friday morning (Aug. 30), according to city staff.
A crew from GDM Civil Ltd. began work on Tuesday morning at the breakwater end of the pier and had made good progress on bolting down the 560 feet of AccessRec mat by the end of day.
At deadline Wednesday, city communications manager Robyn Barra told Peace Arch News a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony at the pier, with comments from Mayor Megan Knight, is scheduled for Friday morning at 11 a.m.
For local accessibility advocate and wheelchair user Susan Bains, of the White Rock-based Equal Access Collective (EAC), seeing the mat installation underway on Tuesday justified her organization's fight to have the project go ahead.
"Today, I pushed myself to go to the end of the pier in my power chair, enduring every bump, the pain in my back and the spasms in my legs to witness the mat being installed," she told Peace Arch News.
She admitted to being "overwhelmed with emotion" realizing it would be the last time she would have to endure these difficulties while visiting the pier.
The mat, supplied by Epical Solutions, is essentially the same as one currently in use on the pier at Santa Monica, Calif.
It is designed to smooth out the bumpy, uneven surface of the pier planks, enabling the city's iconic attraction to be used safely by people with mobility challenges – including those in wheelchairs, those using walkers, or the visually impaired.
"The thought that this effort would bring independence and mobility to so many people who have been denied this experience is immensely gratifying," Bains said. "Seeing the pier transformed into an inclusive space for everyone truly justified all those months of relentless determination – it was absolutely worthwhile."
City council had had a generally favourable reaction to the EAC's January delegation and request for a mat on the pier.
But it had – at Mayor Megan Knight's suggestion – made city action conditional on the EAC, which was researching potential grants, helping secure funding for the mat.
Learning that individuals could not apply for grants on behalf of cities and municipalities, Bains and the EAC had subsequently taken the position that it was a basic city responsibility to ensure that the pier was accessible.
Although she had provided staff with a list of available grants, no specific action was taken by the city.
Revisiting the issue on May 13, a majority of council voted on May 13 to instruct staff only to "continue researching grant opportunities for pier accessibility improvements and to include a funding request for consideration during 2025 Financial Plan discussions" – essentially side-tracking the project until next year.
EAC began a public campaign for immediate action, including a petition which gleaned 1,500 signatures.
They also staged an Access The Pier rally May 29 to raise public awareness, illustrate the challenges for wheelchair users on the pier, and demonstrate samples of accessibility mats.
A tipping point for city action was the receipt of a $25,000 grant from the Social Planning and Review Council (SPARC BC) – which Bains had researched for the city – plus a commitment for close to $5,000 from a clothing sale held by the Self Advocates of Semiahmoo.
The city also has also received $2,000 toward the accessibility mat from the White Rock Soroptimists.
After a revisit of the May 13 vote at Coun. Christopher Trevelyan's request, council unanimously approved Coun. David Chesney's motion to install the mat as soon as possible.
On July 15 council unanimously approved purchase of the mat at $81,796 (plus GST), installation at $8,820 (plus GST), plus a contingency budget of $18,000 to support the project – and amended the city's heritage site bylaw to authorize the alteration to the structure.
