By: Thomas Lepper
Here at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) Fredericton, there is the Student Union Building or, SUB for short.
To quote from UNB’s website, you can find many things at the SUB:
“The Student Union Building is the home of the UNB Student Union, the campus radio station (CHSR 97.9FM), our campus newspaper The Brunswickan, several independent stores and shops, a bar and other student representative groups. The building also has meeting rooms, a Blue Room lounge and the ballroom on the top floor.”.
On the first floor to the side of the building, right by our offices here at The Brunswickan, is one of the accessibility doors for the SUB. Right by that same door, is the deck where the wheel chair ramp resides.
For well over a year, the accessibility ramp has been chained off – blocking use. Finally, this November, UNB’s construction crew began disassembling the ramp.
Leaving many at the Brunswickan wondering why?
According to the construction crew working on the ramp, when the deck was examined, the wood had rotted and the metal bracing holding up the deck had rusted, creating a large hazard.
They (UNBF construction workers) mentioned that if someone walked on the ramp, there was a high likelihood that they could fall through, hence why it was chained up.
Considering the SUB building was constructed in 19691, this deck appears to have endured over 50 years of Fredericton’s finest rain and snow.
Replacing this ramp demonstrates accountability on the part of UNBF, something we as students happily welcome. They had a problem, made a plan, and fixed it.
This shows a progressive step moving forward.
If every problem on UNBF campus was dealt with like this – such as the lack of tampons across campus bathrooms or sketchy elevators – the student body would have a lot less things to complain about.
Photos captured by Thomas Lepper and Joel Rumson
