What started as a protest turned into a celebration on Monday at a Gay Village bar that was battling to keep its wheelchair-accessible terrace.
Bar Renard was told by Ville Marie officials it would have to get rid of its terrace, as it didn’t conform to city standards. According to a Ville Marie bylaw, terraces must be no more than 5 centimetres above the ground, making the Bar Renard patio 25 centimetres too tall.
According to owner Marc-Antoine Coulombe, the terrace was built that way to ensure accessibility for all patrons.
“The point is, we knew were going to build it too high, but it was the only way to do it so it was accessible, so we just did,” he said. “The city wanted us to lower it but we weren’t going to do it because if we did, people in rolling chairs wouldn’t be able to access the toilets and the inside of the bar.”
On Monday, the bar was told it would be allowed to keep the terrace for the rest of the summer. A demonstration, to be held in conjunction with handicapped-rights group RAPLIQ, was planned to protest the city but was instead turned into a celebration with numerous disabled patrons turning up to cheer on the bar.
“There are a lot of people with wheelchairs or scooters here,” said RAPLIQ president Linda Gauthier. “We want to have a life like everybody else, (just) because we’re disabled (doesn’t mean) we go to bed at 8:00 p.m. or eat something very soft like babies. We like to have a beer or a glass of wine once in a while.”
Coulombe said that while the terrace has gotten a temporary reprieve, he was told by city officials the bar would have to conform to city standards next summer. Gauthier said RAPLIQ is planning to appeal at Wednesday’s borough council meeting.
