Downtown Montgomery is increasing its accessibility with the addition of a new sensory trail guests can preview July 30.
The Montgomery Lions Club is a branch of Lions Club International. The humanitarian organization focuses on youth programs, sight conservation and helping other charities assist those in need.
The group has created a new segment of the Riverfront Greenway Trail called the Montgomery Lions Club Children’s Sensory Trail. The trail, which places emphasis on sight impaired youth, engages senses with bright flowers, ropes to aid walking and interactive percussion instruments.
Alisa Beck, the first vice president of the Montgomery Lions Club, said the plan for this trail has been proposed for a number of years.
The city of Montgomery came to our club a few years ago in 2017 and asked to partner with us. They had received a federal grant and wanted to partner with us for some additional funding so that we could form a segment of the trail, which is a connector trail from the riverfront Greenway trail and now leading into the freedom sculpture park that is part of EJI,” Beck explained. “And it basically took a sleepy little part of the riverfront and connected these two pieces so that people could continue on a path. But it also gave accessibility to those with sight impairment, even those that need wheelchair access.”
The Children’s Sensory Trail is a part of the Riverfront Greenway Project. The project, when complete, will be a multi-use trail connecting Maxwell Air Force Base to various points in the area including Shady Street Park, Montgomery Whitewater, Wright Brothers Park, Riverfront Park and Riverwalk Stadium.
“As I came into the [Riverfront Greenway] Project, it was to access walking trails from Maxwell Air Base Boulevard all the way to the Capitol Oyster Bar. And if you've ever been to Montgomery, you know that that's quite a distance, and had not been a usable stretch of the riverfront for many, many years,” Beck said. “So now this gives access to the Riverfront so that people can have walking trails through nature, but also be able to walk to businesses in downtown area also have bike paths and just give it a much more family friendly user experience.”
She explained that there are not many accessible areas for individuals who have sight impairment in the Riverfront area. However, the path also accessible to wheelchair users as well.
“There isn't really a part of the Riverfront that is accessible for people that have site impairment. So this actually has some rope guided walks. It has a park that has some musical instruments that you can actually play on and create your own unique sound and maybe even come together with other people. And it's just a really fun way to interact, to create sounds,” Beck said.
Beck said the path also accessible to wheelchair users and those without sight impairment as well.
“But then there's also a nice walking path. So even for those that aren't sight impaired that maybe need wheelchair access, this provides that for them as well, and it just gives a walkable route to the riverfront so they can experience it in ways that they weren't able to before, and we felt like that was really important,” she continued.
The Montgomery Lions Club Children’s Sensory Trail preview event is set for July 30 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Lafayette Street Entrance. The event is free. For more information, visit the Montgomery Lions Club website.
