Soup and Substance discusses universal access pathway opening June 26
A new Access Adventure Trail in Mount Pleasant will aim to help people with disabilities.
The pathway opens June 26 and will extend from Chipp-A-Waters Park one mile south of Central Michigan University.
Some of the trails amenities include wheelchair accessible benches and picnic tables, textured kiosks and signage displaying GPS location coordinates.
The Access Adventure Trail bridge will be eight feet wide and 150 feet long.
Kathy Beebe, the coordinator from the Mount Pleasant Community Foundation, presented the project during a Soup and Substance discussion Thursday in the Bovee University Center.
Beebe said the goal of the project is inclusion.
“Everyone can use it,” she said. “It doesn’t matter how disabled you are. It’s flexible.”
There are approximately 8,613 people living Isabella County with a disability, and the new adventure trail is considerate of people with cognitive and physical disabilities, Beebe said.
Equal access in recreation is not something siblings Emily and Andrew Clairmont have previously thought about.
Livonia sophomore Andrew Clairmont said people usually try to make sure access is available in buildings like supermarkets, but not parks.
The trail is made possible by a $419,000 grant from W.K. Kellogg Foundation to the Mount Pleasant Area Community Foundation in partnership with the City of Mount Pleasant Parks and Recreation Department.
The City of Mount Pleasant contributed $200,000.
Beebe said CMU is doing its part to spread awareness about the trail and the importance of inclusion.
The university is creating a virtual tour of the trail for potential visitors to plan their visit, and members of the Volunteer Center’s David Garcia Project are presenting for local elementary schools.
Every second grader in Isabella County also will receive a copy of “Bear’s Friends Find a Way,” book written part of the Access to Recreation program, to promote awareness and empathy for people living with disabilities.
The grand opening will include a ribbon cutting, races, food and giveaways.
