The old washrooms have been flushed away at the Prince George Public Library.
The Bob Harkins Branch located downtown has been grunting through modern times with the original bathroom facilities first built into the 33-year-old structure. They were small, they were inaccessible to those in wheelchairs, they were tucked into inconvenient corners, the public considered it a crappy aspect of the public institution. People put up a big stink and on Monday, city council and library staff were able to finally clear the air.
"It is more of a 'library' facility now, not a scattered collection of rooms put at disconnected parts of the building," said chief librarian Janet Marren. "There was limited space in the old washrooms, they were harder to clean, hard to monitor, they weren't always available when the public needed to use them... We had so many comment cards, emails and conversations that told us the washrooms were a problem."
The problem was clogging the library's infrastructure wish list. Many other elements of the downtown knowledge centre are still awaiting investment from City Hall, but this was the plumb priority that floated above all others. Mayor and council was on hand, Monday, to drain those problems for good after an investment of $273,700 to build new ones.
Wayne Watson Construction was the successful construction bidder for the job.
Now, the public can enjoy more spacious surroundings, unigender family and handicapped space, more automation, two filling stations for water bottles in addition to new drinking fountains (donated by the 2015 Canada Winter Games and REAPS Direct Access Gaming Grant), and more convenient lines of site with the library's floor plan.
"This is a highly used city-owned facility," said Marren. "We are so pleased to be able to offer the public these newly renovated and upgraded washrooms that meet everyone's accessibility needs."
To celebrate the accomplishment, library staff set out a table of bathroom-themed books for children on one side of the new washroom feature, and a table full of bathroom renovation and plumbing books on the other side, for adult enjoyment. Their faces were all flushed with pride over the new amenities.
