At a council meeting last month Dalton Smith, manager of Lakeview Park, brought the Lakeview washrooms to the attention of the council. Another councillor had questioned a budget item allotted for new washrooms which hadn’t been built yet, and Smith addressed this topic.
The washrooms couldn’t be addressed until the budget item was approved, and then it was the beginning of camping season, which would have been a bad time to do construction on the washrooms.
“Now we can do that, says Smith, “starting Nov. 1, perhaps with somebody in-house.”
“It has been brought to our attention that one way to improve that washroom would be to create a gender-neutral washroom,” says Smith. The idea is that the facility could be used by those with special needs who or families with small children who need assistance in the washroom.
The proposed plan would put the new, more private washroom at the back of the building with a walkway to it.
“I think what we’d like to do is tackle the women’s washroom this year, create that new gender-neutral one, and then we look at making bigger improvements to that washroom next year for the campsite,” says Smith.
This immediate upgrade could be a good thing for the park.
“It may improve our accessibility to other users who want to come to the park but can’t because they’re embarrassed to go to the washrooms,” says Smith.
More on the issue, such as exact dates of renovation and who will do it, has not yet been discussed at Council meetings. The next CLEC meeting is Nov. 18 at 6 p.m. Lake Cowichan residents are allowed to attend council meetings.