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What’s up with that? Marshall park restrooms open all summer long

By Scott Hewitt, Columbian staff writer
Published: October 26, 2011, 12:00am

I have been taking my grandchildren to the Chelsea Anderson playground on Fort Vancouver Way on a regular basis since it was built, and now my younger grandchildren are playing soccer for Vancouver Parks and Recreation. Not once in all the years and numerous events I’ve attended have I found the restrooms available for use. I’ve never known anyone who has been in them. Have they ever been open? I imagine they cost a lot to build, and they just sit there? Whenever a child or adult has to go to the bathroom, they have to walk all the way up to the Marshall Center from the soccer fields, and sometimes a child doesn’t make it. What’s up with that?

— Just Wondering

Thanks for this urgent question, J.W. When we brought it to Loretta Callahan, Vancouver’s public works spokeswoman, she begged to differ with your analysis. The restrooms are always open in daytime, from April through October, she said. And she offered a terribly simple solution to your dilemma: Have you tried pulling instead of turning the handle?

“The restrooms at Marshall Community Park, where the Chelsea Anderson playground is located, were opened in April with the start of the soccer season and will remain open until the soccer season ends in November. The restrooms are closed from November to spring,” Callahan wrote in an email.

Since football practice in Marshall Park begins as early as February, she added, port-a-johns were brought in for that early part of the season. That will happen again in early 2012, she said.

“The restrooms currently open at 6:30 a.m. and lock automatically at 7 p.m. In the peak of summer, however, they are kept open later, until about 9:30 p.m,” Callahan said. That’s been the case for years, she said.

Callahan also included some well-intended operating instructions in case you need them, J.W.: “One thing to note is that the doors are fairly heavy. You cannot turn the knobs and push it open, as with restrooms at some locations. Instead, you use the knob to pull the door open.”

Don’t turn, don’t push. Pull.

Fair enough, but when The Columbian dispatched a crack squad of investigative reporters and technology analysts wielding this sophisticated door-opening technique, here’s what we found at precisely 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 20: Two of the four bathroom doors opened. The other two were most definitely locked.

So we double-checked with Callahan. She double-checked with the city’s grounds and maintenance supervisor — who agreed that just two doors are open now. That’s due to declining bathroom use in autumn.

“About the first of October or when the weather starts to turn cooler and more rainy, the amount of use the restroom receives begins to taper off with kids in school, more people indoors, etc.,” Callahan wrote. “As a result, to use time and resources efficiently, two are closed at that time — they were open earlier in the year from April to about the first of October — but two still remain open and should be available for those who need to use them.”

Got a question about your neighborhood? We’ll get it answered. Send “What’s Up With That?” questions to neighbors@columbian.com.

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