‘State-of-the art’ new washroom opens downtown

The City of Vernon has turned to a local company to provide some “relief” to residents and visitors in the downtown.

Vernon-based Eagle Industries has designed and built what the city calls a “state of the art” public washroom, now installed at the corner of 30th Avenue and 35th Street, across from Safeway.

“The city identified a need to add a washroom to the area, which can be used by all community members,” Laurie Cordell, the city’s manager of long range planning and sustainability, said. “We’ve seen significant amounts of vandalism to other sites so we needed to take a new approach.”

The facility was inspired by the popular Portland Loo, developed in Portland Oregon, and features just the basics.

“The washroom is simple in design and functionality,” Mike Beauregard, manager of building services, said. “The interior consists of a toilet and hand sanitizer station. There is no sink and no mirror, reducing the opportunity for vandalism and discouraging users from spending much time inside.”

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The stainless steel walls have a graffiti resistant coating and there are open slats at the top and bottom, offering privacy, but still allowing police to ensure there is only one person inside at a time, and to make sure no one is in distress inside.

If the rollout of the facility goes well, the city says similar facilities could replace the washrooms near the downtown bus terminal in order to reduce annual operation costs, vandalism and inappropriate use.

“Not only is this a homegrown product that showcases the forward-thinking nature of our community, but it also provides a much-needed service for all residents and visitors in our city’s downtown core,” Mayor Victor Cumming said.

The washroom will be open between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m., and will be cleaned at least twice a day.