The City of Prince George is opening monitored public washrooms at Canada Games Plaza to provide access to basic hygiene for downtown residents and visitors.
The washrooms will be open from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. to midnight daily. Staff from the POUNDS Project Society will manage access to the bathrooms.
"The peer staff, experienced in working with marginalized individuals, are trained in crisis management, therapeutic communication, conflict resolution, as well as overdose response and reversal," a city press release said. "The daily cleaning of the washrooms will include the regular sanitization of common area surfaces."
The closure of civic facilities and businesses downtown has reduced the number of washrooms available to marginalized people, making it more difficult for them to follow public health guidelines about regular hand washing, the city release said.
"This new downtown washroom access is being provided for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic," the city press release said. "In 2019, the city helped launch two new pilot projects in the downtown area aimed at improving washroom and storage access for vulnerable and homeless people."
