By Emily Stonehouse

A local cottage-owner has found a way to keep his happy place accessible through the years.

Roger Karam and his wife, Nayla, have been coming to their cottage on Blue Hawk Lake since 2008. In a little cottage built in the early 2000s, the owners have been mindfully renovating to accommodate accessibility challenges.

With a motor neuron disorder that makes walking difficult, Karam was faced with the challenge of how to get from the cottage to the water. The property is on a steep incline, and with stairs not an option for the owner, he opted to get creative.

“I needed a ramp to go all the way down,” he said, “It took a couple weeks to measure and make it happen, but we figured it out.”

For Karam, he wasn’t about to let access slow him down from the place he loves the most. With well over 600 lakes in Haliburton County, and an aging population of both locals and cottagers, accessible waterfronts is a topic that has been coming up as of late.

Gooderham-based contractor Matt Reil was the builder for Karam’s ramp. With a design that zig zags from cottage to shore, Karam believes it is the first of its kind in the county. “I’ve been in the trades for over 20 years and I’ve never seen anything like it,” agreed Reil. “I’ve built ramps for out-buildings and things like that, but never anything right down to the water.”

With 14 landings in place, the ramp is meticulously designed to have widened corners to accommodate wheelchair access. Riel took an elevation test to ensure the build was possible before he broke ground, and gradually built between the 34 feet from cottage to dock. “He explained to me what he wanted,” said Reil, “and we started at the top of the hill and worked our way all the way to the bottom.”

While the contractor started work in August of last year, the build was completed just last week, with details and railings installed and ready for the coming summer season. “We love the area,” said Karam, “and it’s a beautiful lake, so the idea of moving never really entered the conversation. We put a lot of effort into making it a home.”

With the recently celebrated accessibility awards, Sue Tiffin, the director of community outreach for the County, noted the need for allowing access across the region. “Sometimes people don’t realize when something isn’t accessible,” explained Tiffin. “Accessibility can mean many different things, and it’s not a one size fits all for everyone.”

Angelica Ingram, the manager of tourism for Haliburton County, is eager to see new builds and developments locally that prioritize accessibility. “I think it’s great to see things like this,” she said. “It’s nice to see the strides made in accessibility, especially from a tourism perspective.”

Ingram noted that beyond the tourism destinations, the uneven ground and topography of the region doesn’t always lend itself to accessible features. “It’s quite an undertaking to make these things accessible,” she said. “So we always appreciate when these efforts are being made.”

Making sites available to all members of the public has been a top priority for a number of tourism initiatives in recent years. Ingram noted that the highly popular Wolf Centre based at Haliburton Forest and Wild Life Reserve has just completed a number of renovations, one of which was to add an accessible washroom to the main floor. “Accessbility can mean so many things,” said Ingram. “It can be ramps, but it’s also the volume of music, the lights, the sensory pieces. And as much as we can, we will advocate for this.”

With National Accessibility Week running from May 31 until June 6, the County of Haliburton has reminded the public of their priorities. On June 3, staff and members of council donned red shirts to raise awareness. “It is a day when people across Canada come together and wear red in schools, workplaces and spaces everywhere in order to create a visible display of solidarity,” reads the County statement, “to show their support for persons and families of those who are living with disabilities, celebrate the achievements of people living with disabilities, and to pledge their commitment to help create a fully accessible and inclusive society that honours and values the contributions of people of all abilities in all aspects of life in Canada.”

Ingram noted that a big part of accessibility across the region is to make all parts of the community – from lakes to stores to parks – available for every member of the public. “It’s about dignity,” she said, “and putting these features in place for the public who needs them, so that everyone can have that same level of dignity when experiencing Haliburton County.”