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News of plans for a ramp to make the Franklin Avenue entrance of Centre Square Mall more accessible is welcomed by Bill Burles, who has been fighting for an access ramp since 2009. - Kevin Allerston/NNSL Photo

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - After more than two years of inaction a wheelchair-accessible ramp at Centre Square Mall's upper level finally appears to be getting the green light but many Yellowknifers remain sceptical.

Bill Burles, who has been wheelchair-bound his whole life, has been pushing for a ramp at the Franklin Avenue entrance to the mall since early in 2009 after management of the mall's upper level built a glass partition at its 49 Street entrance -- the only entrance with a wheelchair-accessible ramp ­ that left wheelchair users and parents with baby strollers needing to be buzzed in by staff at the Yellowknife Inn.

Wheelchair and stroller users are currently blocked from using the Franklin Avenue entrance by a one-foot tall curb. NWT Fire Marshal Stephen Moss ordered upper level mall management to build a ramp in February 2010 but no physical work has begun yet.

"It's about time. I am relieved and curious as to when it will actually happen," said Burles.

"It would make things infinitely easier for me. I won't have to go through the hotel and wait for them to let me through."

Courtney Brebner said she stopped using the mall when she gave birth to her daughter a month and a half ago.

"The upper part of the mall is kind of inaccessible to anybody with a stroller or wheelchair," said Brebner.

"If I go, I have to have my boyfriend or my sister or somebody there who can help me with the stroller. It's not that big of a curb, but I can't do it on my own. "Basically I just don't go there. It's pointless for me to go there. That'd be awesome if they actually did (build a ramp). I'll believe it when I see it. But I mean, they've been talking about having a ramp put in there for years."

City councillor Lydia Bardak said she doesn't understand the years of hold-ups.

"We've seen much bigger construction projects in this city be approved and underway in a much shorter time than one little wheelchair ramp," she said. "That's why it's puzzling to me why it would take this long."

In January it looked like the ramp was about to be built, but plans were quashed by the city over concerns about how it might affect pedestrian traffic.

"In June we received a revised design that does not impede traffic on Franklin along the side of the mall," said deputy mayor Mark Heyck.

"The last thing we are waiting for is an encroachment agreement from the mall owner prior to the signing of a development permit ... but for all intents and purposes it is approved."

An encroachment agreement is needed to be signed between property owners and the city when a development has piece of infrastructure that extends onto public property.

"So that agreement would be signed off on by both parties, then the development permit would be issued and work could start once the fire marshal gives his approval," said Heyck.

Derek Carmody, who manages the upper level of the mall on behalf of owner Royal Host Hotels and Resorts, said there will be more than just ramps on either side of the entrance. The work will include adding benches, flower boxes and tinting the sidewalk colour red. He said Royal Host should be signing off on the encroachment agreement sometime this week.

"We didn't want to just throw a ramp up and be done with it. We want to try and improve the downtown core at the same time. That's why there's been a lot of back and forth with it," said Carmody.

Moss said he realizes it's been slow going but he wants to make sure the ramp is done right.

"Once plans are approved by the city it will come to me for final approval," said Moss.

Don Gillis, chair of the NWT Council of Persons With Disabilities, said he's happy to hear progress is being made on the ramp.

"We're ... hopeful that other businesses that are renovating from time to time take into consideration accessibility for all people with the need for a ramp," Gillis said.

No plans have been announced for a stairway linking the upper and lower sections of the mall, which is considered as part of lower level of the mall, which has a different owner.

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