[BCMA] Media Release: Accessibility Lift at Revelstoke Museum and Archives

[Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv]

After years of planning, a vertical platform lift at Revelstoke Museum and
Archives is getting closer to becoming a reality.


The 1926 heritage Post Office building, owned by the City of Revelstoke, has
been a lovely home for the museum collections and exhibits since 1974, but
it was not built with accessibility in mind. The building has stairs to
enter the main floor, and even more stairs to the second floor, which
features several exhibits, and the program room. There is currently an aging
lift at the back of the Heritage Garden for people to enter the building,
but no access to the second floor. This is an insurmountable barrier for
many people, and has stopped people from accessing the museum exhibits and
programs, such as Brown Bag History. 

 

With funding from the City of Revelstoke, and from Cultural Spaces Canada,
the city has a full feasibility study completed for the project, and efforts
now are focused on raising the funds to begin construction in 2024. The
vertical platform lift will allow visitors to enter the museum at the back
parking lot area of the museum and come to the first floor where the current
parlor display is located. At the second floor, the lift will enter where
the men's washroom is now. The lift will accommodate people in wheelchairs,
including motorized wheelchairs, as well as a companion. It will also
accommodate parents with infant strollers. The remaining upstairs washroom
will be made fully accessible. 

 

The fundraising has received a major kick start with a generous grant from
Area B of the Columbia Shuswap Regional District, through funding from the
Canada Community-Building Fund. Electoral Area B Director David Brooks-Hill
advocated for the accessibility lift project to receive $400,000 in funding.
With an approximate total project cost of $600,000, this funding from the
CSRD moves the project much closer to being successful. Revelstoke Museum
and Archives is tremendously grateful for this major contribution to the
project. 


A further grant of $15,000 from the Resort Municipality Initiative of the
Government of British Columbia is also greatly appreciated. The confirmed
funding will allow Revelstoke Museum and Archives to leverage other funding
from agencies such as Cultural Spaces Canada and Columbia Basin Trust.

 

A fundraising campaign for the community is also beginning. According to
museum curator Cathy English, "The mandate of Revelstoke Museum and Archives
states that the museum is a place where ALL are welcome to participate, to
learn, to share, and to explore the history of the region. As long as there
are physical barriers in the building, we can't fully fulfill that mandate.
This project will remove one of our biggest barriers to accessibility." The
vertical platform lift will be an important contribution to accessibility in
Revelstoke, and community donations will be very welcome.

 

Fundraising is primarily being done through our CanadaHelps page, a program
that also automatically issues a tax receipt at the time of donation:
https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/revelstoke-and-district-historical-
association/campaign/accessibility-lift-project/?fbclid=IwAR3UyggzIozFnhq5ux
yjdNDY2fQ2gLgDuevqyAtOTYydUOoeYvRb2HTjAEg

 

As always, we are grateful for all of the support shown to Revelstoke Museum
& Archives over the years and are excited for the opportunity to better
serve our community through the completion of this project.

 

All the best,

 

The Staff & Board of Revelstoke Museum & Archives

PO Box 1908, 315 First Street West

Revelstoke, BC, V0E 2S0

(250)837-3067

 <mailto:office at revelstokemuseum.ca> office at revelstokemuseum.ca

 <http://www.revelstokemuseum.ca/> www.revelstokemuseum.ca

 

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