Pool Lift Installed In Bayfield
The pool at the Bayfield Area Recreation Center is now handicap accessible, as a new pool lift is now in operation.
“Access to our pool is now compliant with the American Disabilities Act,” says Rec Center Director Scott Armstrong. “The pool lift lowers a sitting person into 3.5 feet of water and can be used without help. It offers swimming and aquatic therapy to people who cannot walk well or use the stairs.”
The lift has already gotten significant use, including by physical therapy patients from Northern Lights Rehabilitation Services in Washburn. Armstrong hopes that more people will use the pool lift as word spreads.
“The buoyancy and gentle resistance of the water offers exercise benefits to a wide variety of people, from spinal cord injuries, arthritis patients, stroke survivors and wheelchairs users. Some people who cannot walk on land find they have greater freedom in the pool,” Armstrong says.
Funding for the $6,000 lift was a joint effort. The Rec Center received donations from Memorial Medical Center, the ABC Thrift Store and the Dana & Christopher Reeve Foundation.
“We are very thankful to the donors – both local and national – for expanding our capability to provide health and wellness in our community,” says Armstrong.