Centennial Park’s universal washroom should continue to remain open until midnight, local officials said, after a trial period of keeping later hours showed no increase in vandalism as a result.
Salt Spring’s Local Community Commission (LCC) voted Thursday, Oct. 16 to endorse that new availability, despite costs for those additional hours already having been conditionally approved as part of a draft budget. The new endorsement doesn’t technically bind commissioners to support the expenditures going forward, however.
“It’s a small, important thing we did to humanize our services,” said LCC member Brian Webster. “I just want that to be explicitly acknowledged.”
Despite high use from the public — including a reliant population of liveaboard and unhoused islanders — the washroom facility in downtown Ganges had previously been routinely closed overnight following a series of vandalism incidents that taxed staff and maintenance budgets. After troubles ranging from scratched mirrors and graffiti to open defecation and the smashing of toilets and urinals, parks staff had been closing the larger washrooms at 3 p.m. each day during the winter –– although they would leave the universal washroom open until 9:30 p.m., when it would be closed by TLC Security staff.
The universal washroom had also seen vandalism last year, but its smaller size had meant it was easier to clean –– and, while that washroom faced some extended closures for cleaning or repair, the other two would remain ready to open for use the next day.
This year the LCC had asked that when the two larger gender-specific washrooms were closed each night, the smaller universal washroom would remain open late, with some additional security monitoring in place.
Senior manager Dan Ovington told the LCC it appeared as if there hadn’t been a greater number of reports of vandalism from keeping it open until midnight, versus when it had been closing at 9:30 p.m.
“Overall, I would say it’s been a success,” said Ovington on Thursday. “The feedback from both the security company and [CRD] staff hasn’t been much different.”