Sir: The issue of a lack of a handicap or infant and baby accessible washroom at the Downtown Chatham Centre Mall on King Street West in Chatham is nothing new.
Most recently, the issue was brought up by a mother who wanted to bring her young baby or child to a washroom at the mall but had issues trying to get to the second-floor washrooms as there is no longer elevator access with the closing of the Sears store access.
I observed this problem years ago when the mall first opened back in 1982. The subject has been brought up before to previous mall owners and management and the fact that there was an elevator in the Sears store was given as an alternative.
There also used to be several restaurants on the ground level of the mall, with washrooms, when the mall first opened, but these restaurants have been gone for quite some time, and the washroom access at these locations is no longer there.
Now that the Sears store is closed, there are limited options for people who have some sort of handicap limitation or parents with children in carriages or strollers to access the upstairs washrooms. For people that can climb the stairs or go up the escalators in the mall section, the problem of access is probably not often noted.
The situation is not the fault of the management or staff of the mall or for that matter the current owners of the mall. However, the situation could be corrected, with the addition of a family washroom with a change table, by creation of such a service in one of the now-vacant stores on the ground floor. The problem with that of course, is the loss of a retail space, and the costs and possible logistics of trying to install the pipe systems, toilet and sinks needed.
As I said, this situation had been drawn to the attention of the owners of the mall area several different times in the past that were noted in the local news media at those times. There were several persons representing the disabled in the area that reviewed the lack of access to washrooms in the mall and recommendations were made at that time.
After that it appears on the surface that nothing was done to follow the recommendations of the committee.
It would be good to soon try and implement the changes and get an accessible washroom placed somewhere in the downtown mall for its patrons. The loss of the Sears elevator access makes it all the more reasonable for the current owners of the mall to consider this option.
Frank Doyle
Chatham
