PROPOSAL ENVISIONS AN ‘ABILITIES CENTRE’ FOR EVERYONE
Todd Nicholson envisions a day, not too distant, when able-bodied and physically challenged youth and adults are training side by side in a new Abilities Centre for the nation’s capital.
Nicholson, a former sledge hockey star who captained Canada to gold at the 2006 Games in Turin, is one of the driving forces behind a move to build a giant training and cultural centre at LeBreton Flats, part of the RendezVous LeBreton proposal. Nicholson’s spouse, Emily Glossop, is chair of the Abilities Centre Ottawa board.
“We don’t want a duplicate service ... we don’t want to put anybody out of business,” Nicholson says. “We’re looking at creating structures and facilities that the community needs.”
The model for the proposed facility is the 125,000-square-foot Abilities Centre in Whitby, the brainstorm of former finance minister Jim Flaherty. Nicholson, chef de mission for Canada’s 2018 Paralympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, says it took time for users to appreciate the Abilities Centre was for everyone — able-bodied and physically challenged.
“We see the need for it here,” Nicholson says. “We’ve been down (to Whitby) to see how it is used by everybody. Cost is not a factor for people to be able to have access to the facility and equipment.”
Fitness and recreation are just one aspect of the Abilities Centre, which is proposed as the upper two floors atop a Sensplex skating rink. It will also have arts and cultural components — a community gathering place for students, seniors and those in between.
Like the rest of the LeBreton pitch, the project awaits National Capital Commission approval. The earliest possible completion date would be 2021. Whitby’s facility cost $42 million, paid for by corporate and government support.
Nicholson, who lost the use of his legs in a car accident at age 18, imagines a day when barriers are broken down, with the help of better training centres, but also awareness. Today, some children in wheelchairs can’t even get their power-assisted wheels through the doors to a gym.
“It’s no wonder some of our youth are having trouble getting active when we’ve got that type of mentality in our public school system,” Nicholson says. “It’s getting better, but there’s more we can do to educate phys-ed teachers that if you’ve got someone with a disability you don’t send them to a guidance counsellor or to the office when it comes time for physical activity.” Wayne Scanlan