In the centre of St. Catharines, Ontario, sits the beautiful City Hall heritage building. It’s well-known by residents for being the place they go to access everything from their city council to tax services. And now, it’s becoming well-known for its accessibility too.

“We decided we could make the building much more accessible and user-friendly for people of all abilities,” explains Mayor Brian McMullan. And so the City, with help from the Mayor’s Accessibility Advisory Committee, undertook some important renovations to do just that.

New accessible washrooms, widened doors, improved lighting and signage, hearing assistive devices in the council chambers, an audible enunciator in the elevator and low customer service counters were all installed so that people with disabilities would have the same access to their City Hall as everyone else.

“It’s sometimes the little things that we don’t often think of that can make a difference for somebody trying to access city services,” explains Mayor McMullan.

And that’s why, along with improving their physical accessibility, City Hall also made an effort to improve their customer service too.

As part of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act’s Accessible Customer Service Standard, all city staff underwent training to help them better meet the needs of customers with disabilities.

For Accessibility Advisory Committee member Shelley Stewart, the changes have meant she now has a sense of ease when visiting the building.

Shelley, who is blind and frequently attends committee meetings at City Hall, says the new enunciator in the elevator has been extremely helpful for her. The enunciator announces the floors at each stop and whether the elevator is going up or down. “It makes it so much easier to not be afraid you might get off on the wrong floor,” says Shelley. “So now, it really just makes coming into City Hall wonderful.”

But what really makes the difference, Shelley notes, is the staff who are always happy to help and strive to make everyone feel welcome.

“You walk into City Hall and you feel included,” she explains, “no matter who you are, no matter what accommodations you need. It’s a friendly place to be.”

And that’s exactly the reaction the City was hoping for.

“It’s the payback,” says Mayor McMullan, “in terms of serving your community, in terms of people feeling good about coming to City Hall and interacting with their city government. It’s hard to measure that, but I know it’s invaluable, and I think it’s an investment that’s well-worth making.”

But St. Catharines isn’t done quite yet.

“There’s always more to do,” says Mayor McMullan. “We’re very proud of the progress we’ve made to date, but it’s ongoing. We’re not going to stop; we’re going to keep moving forward in a positive way.”