Downtown restroom to reopen for business
The downtown loo will soon reopen for use after being shut down for more than two months.
The self-cleaning restroom, installed along the east side of 6 Street South, just south of 4 Avenue, was opened to the public last September.
However, it was closed over Christmas last year — after being in use for only three months — amid concerns of cleanliness, safety, and after-hours use.
“We decided to close it until we could get everything resolved and that’s where we are right now,” said George Kuhl, the City of Lethbridge’s Planning Initiatives Manager.
Originally open from 5:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. daily, the restroom was intended to bring relief for transit passengers in the absence of having a bus shelter.
The restroom was devised to automatically clean and sanitize the toilet, sink and floor after every use. The total cost of the project was about $195,000.
Kuhl said the City had heard some complaints from residents, but there was also an issue with the locking mechanism over the winter.
“It was quite a cold snap we had at the time and we couldn’t get it closed properly and then sometimes it was being used after hours, and we weren’t able to clean it properly,” he said.
With recent warmer weather, Kuhl said the lock has been fixed and the restroom will reopen March 1.
He said the City also has a better handle on the cleaning required to maintain it. Even though it is selfcleaning, there is some supplementary cleaning that needs to be done, which includes ensuring needles are properly deposited in the provided sharps container.
The City has approved a local company to clean the washrooms twice per day — once midday and once after closing.
“We originally had the Clean Sweep program fellows looking after it, but they were only able to really check on it once a day and that wasn’t really enough. So we decided to look in a different direction.”
The City invited three local companies to submit bids on cleaning and chose one last week. Kuhl will be meeting with them today to give them keys.
As a result of the changes, the restroom will be open shorter hours — from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
“We initially wanted them to coincide with transit hours but it’s difficult for us to provide the cleaning service without it costing a lot of money to match those hours,” explained Kuhl. “It will still be open half the day and we hope that will work for the time being.”
Hours could be adjusted later on, he said, as the City will continue to monitor the situation. He noted the need for accessible downtown restroom facilities.
“We realize that’s an issue downtown and it’s something we hope will fill a bit of a gap and make things just a little more comfortable for people,” he said. “We’re still in the learning phase of operating one of these facilities. We ask people to be patient with us as we get things worked out.”
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