Western Splendour

By Barb Taylor

Imagine traffic snaking through slushy streets, pedestrians covering near-frostbitten ears with mittened hands, gravelled sidewalks patched with ice. Or picture a day of unrelenting sun with temperatures so hot even shade is at a premium. Either way, visualize yourself looking out the floor-to-ceiling window of a climate-controlled overhead walkway. Calgary is renowned for its good weather, but we do occasionally experience both extremes.

Whatever the weather, our 16 kilometres of Plus 15 elevated walkways are the indoor arteries and veins that connect the heart of our city. You can take in the Glenbow Museum, Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts, Calgary Tower, a variety of upscale hotels and a plethora of shopping – without venturing outside.

When you want to know what you’re missing, take an elevator to ground level and venture out to the pedestrian-friendly Stephen Avenue Mall. Calgary’s historic main street is off limits to most vehicles.

The Plus 15 is “a real plus for people with disabilities,” says Calgary’s Barry Lindemann, “but tell your readers to get a map.” The system is so extensive you may need help with navigation. A frequent user of the system, Barry is the Community Affairs Coordinator for Calgary’s branch of the Canadian Paraplegic Association.

Also a sports enthusiast, Barry recommends that visitors head to the stampede grounds. In the winter months, you can take in the Calgary Flames on their home ice at the Pengrowth Saddledome. “Everything is ramped,” says Barry, and he emphatically points out that for those, like himself, using wheelchairs, the accessible seating offers unobstructed views.

At the south end of the stampede grounds is the grandstand, where visitors to the “greatest show on earth” – the Calgary Stampede – can take in all that truly is great about this show. The stampede runs from July 4 to 13 this year. Visitors using wheelchairs get the best seats in the house for grandstand events. You’ll literally experience that “grit-in-your-teeth” feeling, sitting in the front row for the rodeo performance, and feel the vibrations of thundering hooves as team after team of chuckwagons pound by at high speed. (If you’d like to be a little more removed from the action, there is accessible seating higher up.)

I’m not much of a sports fan, so when I dragged my 14-year-old son out of bed on a recent Saturday morning it was to announce that we were going to the zoo. Cheated out of his weekend sleep-in, he rubbed his tousled head and shot me a “you’ve-got-to-be-kidding” grimace. But two hours later he was wowed as we walked into the climate-controlled crystal palace that is the Calgary Zoo’s newest exhibition: “Destination Africa.” He was by no means the only teenager taking in this recently opened $31.5-million addition. The seven-storey Trans Alta Rainforest houses gorillas, dwarf crocodiles and giant geckos, all basking in natural light. The gently sloping indoor pathways of the African savannah let you get up close to the likes of giraffes, hippos and warthogs. As for accessibility, you only have to look around to see that wheels rule this place. Strollers, carriages, wagons and wheelchair users nearly outnumber the pedestrians.

The Glenbow Museum is western Canada’s largest museum, with over 93,000 square feet of exhibition space on three floors. Renowned for its depiction of First Nations life and early western settlement, the Glenbow is very much a hands-on museum. Weekends are a great chance for families to participate in “make-and-take” activities. All of the entrances into the museum are wheelchair accessible, as are the special exhibition spaces and permanent galleries. Wheelchair-accessible washrooms are available on the main floor. Attendants for people with disabilities are given free admission to the museum.

If you’re a theatre buff, you’ll be pleased to know the Glenbow Museum is connected by the Plus 15 to Calgary’s Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts, featuring five accessible theatre venues.

Kananaskis Country
From just about anywhere in Calgary it’s hard to ignore the sight of snow-etched mountains scalloped against the skyline. When you’ve exhausted yourself at the Calgary Stampede or shopped till you’ve dropped downtown, take an hour’s drive to the Rocky Mountains in neighbouring Kananaskis Country. Herein lies Alberta’s “jewel in the crown” for barrier-free access.

William Watson Lodge was named in honour of William Watson and is managed by Ross Watson, two notable but unrelated Albertans. William Watson (1904-1965) could not use his arms due to a birth injury. He was an artist, writer and lecturer. He received a law degree from the University of Alberta, but public attitudes of the time prevented him from articling and being admitted to the Bar. He devoted much of his life to improving those attitudes.

Property manager Ross Watson, the first blind mountain climber to ascend Canada’s highest peak, Mt. Logan, filled me in on the history of the lodge. One of the original mandates set by the designers of Kananaskis Country was to meet the needs of as many people as possible. One question put forward was, “Do we serve the disability population?” The answer was no. It was decided that an overnight facility, similar to a hostel, allowing for attendant services, be built. The William Watson Lodge, opened in 1981, features 22 units housing four to eight persons in bungalows, as well as 12 RV sites.

Nothing is overlooked here. I’m handed a cabin key inscribed in Braille. The cabin itself features wide hallways, low kitchen counters and two bedrooms with single beds. There are separate toilet and bathing rooms (something every large family appreciates). Visitors can enjoy over 18 km of accessible hiking trails, picnic sights, fishing areas and interpretative programs.

“It’s the next best thing to camping!” says Calgary native, Marjorie Guscott. Marjorie’s husband Bill has multiple sclerosis and in the heat of the day needs to be somewhere cool. Meanwhile, their two children head outside and roam the paved trails surrounding the lodge. “The location is magnificent, and it’s so quiet,” says Marjorie. Overnight reservations must be made in advance by the person with a disability. However, that person is welcome to bring his peer group as well as attendants.

Banff
No visit to Alberta would be complete without visiting this famous town nestled in the mountains and just two hours’ drive from Calgary.

Quaint with rundlestone and log buildings, Banff’s pine-scented air sometimes competes with exhaust fumes on busy summer days. Wheelchair accessibility in this thriving town brings to mind the Scout motto: “Be prepared.” Most motels and hotels have accessible rooms. Many attractions are also accessible, but if it’s a beautiful weekend in July or August, there will be crowds of tourists. Those yearning for wide-open spaces won’t find them on Banff’s main streets.

Whatever time of year you go, be sure to stop in at the Banff Information Centre and ask for a copy of “Accessible Attractions” (also available online). It gives the lowdown on Banff attractions and their degree of accessibility. It also lets you know where you’ll find wheelchair accessible washrooms around town.

A must-see is the Fairmont Banff Springs. This “castle of the Rockies” was officially opened in 1888. As William Van Horne, General Manager of Canadian Pacific Railways at that time, said, “If we can’t export the scenery, we will import the tourists.” There are 11 “ease of access” rooms in this resort. If you’d like to stay in one, book well ahead of your visit.

Lake Louise
“As God is my judge, I never in all my explorations saw such a matchless scene.” So said Tom Wilson back in 1882 when he went down in history as the first white man to view Lake Louise. Tom Wilson died many years ago, but visitors to the elegant Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise report seeing his ghost peering out of the seventh-floor window of the hotel.

The view hasn’t changed much over the century, but access to Lake Louise certainly has. Originally, Lake Louise was an adventurer’s outpost. Hardy souls would travel by horseback from Banff to the small cabin that stood where the sprawling Chateau is now.

Anne White, the public relations manager of Lake Louise, tenderly calls the Chateau a “Tudor folly,” referring to its many incarnations over the last century. There is always a balance to be struck between renovations to upgrade the Chateau and preserving the building’s historic structures. While most of the Chateau is accessible, it is sometimes in a roundabout fashion. The elevators in the central, and oldest, part of the Chateau are unsuitable for people using wheelchairs. Elsewhere, the elevators are wide with low buttons printed in Braille. There are 22 “ease of access” rooms. Anne points out that the staff will do its utmost to help visitors with disabilities, but be sure to ask and be specific about what you require.

Once the snow melts, there are wide, flat pathways, many of them paved, that wind through the grounds and front the shoreline of Lake Louise in front of the Chateau.

If the Chateau proves a little too pricey, take heart. You can appreciate its opulence and scenic vistas while staying at the very affordable Hostel at Lake Louise, co-owned by the Canadian Alpine Association and Hostelling International. This showcase hostel attracts people of all ages. Our family stays here at least once a year. The hostel is just a block from the nearby Samson Mall, where you can pick up some fresh cinnamon buns, order a pizza or stock up on groceries to cook back in the hostel’s kitchen. The hostel has accessible rooms and washrooms, with roll-in showers. An elevator specifically for people using wheelchairs gets you to different levels of this building. Make your needs known when booking and – it bears repeating – book well ahead.

Some of us are lucky to live in an area that is so appealing that after a short time away, we’re ready to click our heels together and say those well-known words, “There’s no place like home!” Calgary, with its mountain neighbours, is one of those places.

(Barb Taylor is a freelance writer living in Calgary, Alberta.)


IF YOU GO:

GETTING AROUND

Calgary Transit
Phone: (403) 262-1000
www.calgarytransit.com/html/at2.html
Provides accessible public transportation.

Calgary Handi-Bus
www.calgaryhandibus.com
This service is for those with permanent or temporary disabilities who are unable to use regular transit. Before arriving, visitors should get a temporary registration number for the time they will be in Calgary. For more information, call the customer service line at (403) 276-3038 or the registration department at (403) 537-7770.


ACCESSIBLE ATTRACTIONS

CALGARY:

Tourism Calgary
www.tourismcalgary.com
Toll-free: 1-800-661-1678
Find general tourist information and special event dates on the website. Site also allows you to search by wheelchair accessibility.

Plus 15 Elevated Walkway
Download map from:
www.gov.calgary.ab.ca/planning/pdf/15-map.pdf
or contact Tourism Calgary (above)

Canadian Paraplegic Society (Alberta)
Phone: (403) 228-3001
E-mail: cpacal@canparaplegic.org
www.canparaplegic.org/ab/guide.tpl?guidename=Calgary
Website features guide for Calgary.

Calgary Stampede
July 4-13, 2003
Toll-free: 1-800-661-1260
www.calgarystampede.com

Calgary Zoo, Botanical Garden & Prehistoric Park
www.calgaryzoo.com
1300 Zoo Road N.E.,
P.O. Box 3036, Station B,
Calgary, AB T2E 7V6
Telephone: (403) 232-9300
Toll free: 1- 800- 588-9993

Calgary Science Centre
Phone: (403) 268-8300
www.calgaryscience.ca

Canada Olympic Park
Phone: (403) 247-5452
www.coda.ab.ca/COP
Site of the 1988 Winter Olympics.

Glenbow Museum
Phone: (403) 268-4100
www.glenbow.org

Pengrowth Saddledome
Phone: (403) 777-3687
www.pengrowthsaddledome.com

Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts
Phone: (403) 272-7223
www.epcorcentre.org

Inglewood Bird Sanctuary
Information Line: (403) 221-4500
A 32-acre wildlife reserve on the Bow River with over 2 km of level walking trail.


KANANASKIS COUNTRY:

William Watson Lodge
Phone: (403) 591-7227
Reservation hours: Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Rates from $30-$40.


BANFF/LAKE LOUISE:

Banff/Lake Louise Tourism Bureau
Phone: 403-762-8421
www.banfflakelouise.com
Provides official visitor information. Website has online accessibility guide at: www.banfflakelouise.com/accessibility.html.

Fairmont Banff Springs
Phone: (403) 762-2211
E-mail: banffsprings@fairmont.com

Fairmont Lake Louise
Phone: (403) 522-3511
E-mail: chateaulakelouise@fairmont.com

Lake Louise Alpine Centre (Hostel)
Toll-free: 1-866-762-4122
www.hihostels.ca/hostels/Alberta/SouthernAlbertaRegion/HI-LakeLouiseAlpine/Hostels

Historic Cave and Basin
Phone: (403) 762-1566
www.worldweb.com/ParksCanada-Banff/cave.html

Lake Minnewanka Boat Tours
Phone: (403) 762-3473
www.minnewankaboattours.com
Offers wheelchair accessible cruises