Nearly four years after the building first opened to the public, the Mount Pearl Summit Centre will soon be fully accessible.
The May 15 regular meeting saw Mount Pearl council approve a motion for a contract for the supply, delivery and installation of automatic door operators at the Summit Centre. As per the City’s tendering policy, the contract was awarded to the lowest qualified bidder, which in this case is Armour Lock and Safe Ltd. The bid amounted to some $38,154, HST included.
The motion to approve the contract, made by Councillor Andrea Power, aroused the curiosity of Deputy Mayor Jim Locke, who questioned whether the door openers were being used as replacements for the ones currently installed at the building.
“I’m just curious, are these new (door openers) that we are installing, or is it just a replacement?” asked Locke.
Jason Collins, Mount Pearl’s Director of Community Services, clarified the automatic doors are not replacements, prompting a second question from the deputy mayor who was surprised to learn the Summit Centre needed additional door openers installed.
“Which doors in particular?” asked Locke. “I figured with the development of the Summit Centre we had automated doors, at least at the openings. I’m just curious as to where these are going to be positioned.”
Collins explained the new door openers will be installed on all doors in the Summit Centre, making all areas of the building fully accessible to the public, including those in wheelchairs.
“When the Summit was opened, the only doors that were automatic (were) the access control points,” said Collins.
He explained that when the Summit Centre, which cost $34 million to build, was constructed, it was built according to building accessibility requirements, but was not made fully accessible at the time. The installation of the openers on all of the Summit Centre doors will make the four-year-old building fully accessible to the public.
“We went around and when it came to the change rooms, fitness room, upstairs (and) downstairs (access points) — we’re making the building fully accessible,” said Collins.
