Public washroom at Princess Park opens 24-7 starting today
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The public-use washroom at Princess Park will start operating 24 hours a day for seven days a week as of today, a city official told the Sun.
Council agreed Tuesday to keep the washroom open 24-7 as part of a larger plan to explore opening a “hygiene hub.”
Todd Burton, the city’s general manager of operations, told the Sun on Wednesday that the washroom would be open 24-7 “within the month.” On Thursday, he said the security and cleaning staff needed were available right away, and the city decided to open the facility sooner than projected with the new information.
Todd Burton.
The facility, which has two washrooms — of which only one will be in use at a time — will be monitored by a security firm overnight and will be cleaned six times a day.
The cost to run the facility for the extended hours would be $74,100, which includes security and cleaning costs from April to October, a council report says.
That figure is on top of the current $29,335 annual cost the city pays for daytime use, Burton said.
Burton noted that the daytime-use cost will be slightly lower now, as the facility won’t need to be locked and unlocked every day.
The city is planning to return the washroom to daytime use only during the winter, as Life’s Journey Inc., which is located nearby, typically has facilities open overnight during the cold season.
If Life’s Journey is unable to operate overnight next winter, the city would continue to keep the downtown washroom accessible 24-7, Burton had previously said.
The hygiene hub would have additional amenities like showers and laundry services, Burton said on Wednesday.
The estimated cost for the hygiene hub would be $1.5 million to set up and an additional $2 million to operate per year. The city said it is looking for other funding sources, including the provincial government, in order to open the facility.
Council also agreed to scrap a plan to build a single 24-7 washroom at 21 Eighth St.
Coun. Bruce Luebke (Ward 6) on Thursday said in his opinion, the city should support moves by the province or a third-party organization to fund the proposed hub.
“I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I think the question I have is, once we’re committing — whether it’s staff, resources, other resources or money to it — then we need to have a further conversation,” Luebke said.
“Because municipalities, generally speaking, shouldn’t be that deeply involved, especially financially, on dealing with social issues. It’s a provincial and federal jurisdiction.”
Luebke noted that the city gives grants to some non-profit organizations in Brandon.
“When you start talking about thousands-slash-millions of dollars, I think it’s a slippery slope for a city to be involved in that,” he said.
» alambert@brandonsun.com