More public washrooms put on city council’s radar

Imagine yourself in Victoria Park, spread out on a blanket reading a book or digging into a picnic lunch when all of a sudden nature calls.

Your options? Walk the 150 metres to the nearest public washroom at the Regina Public Library (RPL) or even farther to the ones in City Hall — three blocks away.

Depending on how urgent the situation is, neither may be close enough.

But the solution may be closer. In a report coming before the Community and Protective Services Committee on Thursday, administration has recommended a one-season stand-alone public washroom pilot project in City Square Plaza.

The recommendation comes after a decade of increased day-today use, events and programming in Regina’s downtown prompted

the committee to explore the possibility of more public washrooms.

“This is a good approach,” said Ward 3 Coun. Andrew Stevens in an interview Sunday. “I think we can gauge what people really want rather than just hearing from a few residents here and there.”

As the city councillor representing the downtown, Stevens said he hasn’t had a lot of demand for another public washroom downtown, but on occasion residents have raised concerns about accessibly, especially when the washrooms at the nearby Cornwall Centre — which are privately owned — are out of order.

Of the city’s 50 public washrooms, two are located downtown at City Hall and the main branch of the RPL.

“If you’re downtown for lunch in the summer, you go to the farmer’s market on the weekend, you really have to move away from the park (to find a washroom) when the park is actually supposed to be the centre of activity,” said Stevens.

The pilot project will cost $20,000, which would be requested through the 2020 budget if approved. It would include a temporary washroom facility on City Square Plaza from May until September of 2020 and be open from dawn until dusk.

“We have heard concerns from parents especially during our evening events,” said Judith Veresuk, executive director of the Regina Downtown Business Improvement District (RDBID).

Some try to take their kids across the street to Hotel Saskatchewan if the Library is closed or to nearby restaurants, where Veresuk said there tends to be pushback when people come in to use the washroom without buying a meal.

There are also challenges to those using the plaza before surrounding businesses like the RPL open — vendors setting up for the farmer’s market for example.

“It’s something we’ve been tracking since the development of the plaza and it was noted as a need in the 2010 Regina Downtown Neighbourhood Plan,” said Veresuk, who supports the proposed pilot program.

“So it wasn’t ever a surprise that this was going to come to the forefront.”

During the pilot, the city would assess the need for the facility by tracking usage and maintenance challenges before committing to a permanent facility, which could cost anywhere from $150,000 to $750,000, depending on design and servicing requirements.

There are also challenges with illegal activity, including vandalism, prostitution, drugs sales and squatting — similar issues experienced by the Provincial Capital Commission’s public washrooms in Wascana Centre — to consider.

But Stevens said that shouldn’t necessarily stop the city from building the facility if there’s a large enough public need.

“I worry that the fear of needles and illegal activities will be enough to just scare people away from it and that’s not enough for me,” said Stevens. “I think that just leads us down the road to talk about the importance of safe consumption sites.”

While administration is recommending the committee approve the pilot project, the report gives two other options as well: maintain the status quo, but improve signage and encourage the inclusion of public washrooms in future downtown developments, or undertake a more in-depth analysis of the location, service requirements and construction/operating costs for both a seasonal and year-round facility, which would cost approximately $100,000.

After the Community and Protective Services Committee votes on the matter Thursday, it will go before city council at the end of the month.