Visitor Centre & Sasquatch Museum Project

The New Accessible Visitor Centre and Sasquatch Museum

With great honour Tourism Harrison, Sts’Ailes First Nations and the Village of Harrison Hot Springs announce the official opening of the Harrison Visitor Centre and Sasquatch Museum, sharing the story of the legendary Sasq’ets and Harrison River Valley heritage. Our building has been meticulously designed to accommodate a wide range of needs, with ramps, elevators, and accessible paths integrated seamlessly into our spaces. This ensures that every visitor, whether they are able-bodied or have diverse abilities, can navigate our center with ease and comfort.

Our vision of accessibility extends to creating an inclusive environment where every visitor feels welcome and valued. We believe that the beauty and wonder of the Harrison River Valley should be accessible to all, fostering a sense of community and shared experience.

Three times the size of the original museum, We invite you to explore our exhibits, immerse yourself in the rich history and natural beauty of the area, and engage with our knowledgeable staff, who are always ready to assist. We are here to ensure that your visit is enjoyable, educational, and memorable, regardless of any physical challenges you may face.

Our building and services include:

For your safety:

Dedicated accessible parking space connecting directly with a ramp to the main entrance
Cane-detectable guardrail, accessible bench, overhang providing shelter from inclement weather, door visibility strips, and power-operated doors with foot- and hand-free activation controls at the main entrance.
Safety cameras are located at various locations around the building.

Throughout the building:

Emergency system with visual and audible fire alarms
Nonslip resin epoxy flooring
Elevator
Large font signage
Braille signage
Flange signage

Visitor Centre & Sasquatch Museum:

All the above plus the following:

Universally accessible reception desk with dual counter heights and knee clearance
Assistive listening devices with induction hearing loop
Accessible retail display units
Washroom with grab bars, power outlet, emergency call button, accessible sink, visual and audible fire alarm
Minimum gravity soap dispenser and paper towel holder
Throughout the museum, all displays are located at an accessible height, with plenty of room for maneuvering
The Longhouse room features dimmed lighting for sensory control and bench seating with room for mobility devices

Tourism Harrison is proud to be the first Visitor Information Centre and Sasquatch Museum in British Columbia to receive the Rick Hansen Foundation Gold Certification (RHFAC) for accessibility.

What does Gold Certification mean?
It is a rating system that measures the accessibility of the building promoting increased meaningful access through the adoption of Universal Design Principles.

To see our journey to achieve this milestone, explore below!

“Accessibility takes into consideration the many different ways people experience their community and the world around them. Ensuring spaces are accessible, safe and inclusive means that people of all abilities can fully participate and engage in the places where they live, learn, work and play. By focusing on accessibility and inclusivity at a gold-level standard in the design and construction of a new facility, the Harrison Visitor Information Centre & Sasquatch Museum will lead the way in ensuring visitors feel welcomed and can immerse themselves in the history, artifacts and lore of this beautiful region.”
Rick Hansen, Founder, Rick Hansen Foundation

INITIAL CONCEPTS

Tourism Harrison is working with local companies Precision Building Design and Kurts Construction to create a building that pays homage to Harrison’s indigenous and historical roots while creating a building that is functional for the future and accessible to all. We particularly noted during COVID the limitations of our current building, given the small space and poor ventilation we could only let in one or two visitors at a time and sadly wheelchairs could not gain access to our museum and struggled with our washroom. Our new building is aiming for gold certification following the Rick Hansen Foundation’s guidelines for accessibility to ensure all can access the building and enjoy the museum. The building is expected to be completed in April 2024. Please note that the landscaping in this depiction is preliminary.

New fully accessible Visitor Centre and Sasquatch Museum – please note that the landscaping in this depiction is preliminary.

The new museum will build on the artifacts and story around the Sasquatch but will also include a major section on the story of the Sts’ailes “Sasq’ets” which translates to english as the Sasquatch. It will also include a major section on the story of the Sts’ailes people and their ancestors who have lived in this area since time immemorial. The name Sts’ailes, meaning “beating heart”, is derived from an ancient and formative battle between Xals the Transformer and Shay, a powerful Shaman. In addition, an overview of First Nations with a history in the Harrison River Valley will be added.

While parking has never been an issue, backing up onto a road by a school was awkward and the new design for parking ensures a safer experience for both visitors and pedestrians.

Safer Parking in a more controlled area with easier access to the building for those using a mobility device.

The $1,000,000 Community Economic Recovery Infrastructure Program (CERIP) from the Province of BC allows us to move from our current Sasquatch Museum now housed in a 120-square-foot room to a completely accessible 1300-square-foot area and share the bottom floor of the new facility with the Harrison Hot Springs Visitor Centre. The museum has been hugely successful and expanding it adds a much-needed attraction to our Community. The building is framed in timbers to pick up on the logging history of the area and depicts a large-scale image of Harrison Lake to reinforce the importance of this lake to our community. Windows will be a blue-green glass to reflect both the blue of the lake and the green of the mountains. Inside the museum will build on the already extensive Sasquatch artifacts currently on display but will add components focusing on local indigenous history

In an effort for this project to be as green as possible, we will be employing state-of-the-art building standards. In addition, by maximizing the footprint of our current building, we can maintain all the major trees and add indigenous trees, shrubs and bushes.