It’s all fun and games until a kid needs to use the washroom.
The recently reopened Creekside Park playground features a climbing tower, swings, and even musical instruments, but there are no restrooms within a 300-metre radius.
For Vancouverite Helen Aqua and her four-year-old grandson, that’s a few metres too far.
“He’s one of those kids who, like most kids, plays until he should have told me 10 minutes ago that he needed the washroom,” she said.
Aqua has often been forced to take her grandson to Science World just to use the restroom.
“When we come in we still have to go through the lineup and maze thing to show them a stamp in order to get to the gate that lets you into the Science World, the main part, and find a bathroom.”
Aqua said they are lucky she has a Science World membership, otherwise, they would have to pay to use the washroom.
But Vancouver’s park board said there are options available.
“The closest public washroom is located 320 metres from the Creekside Park playground at Main and Terminal, outside the Main Street SkyTrain Station. The Creekside Community Centre, located on the seawall at the eastern edge of the Olympic Village, also has public washrooms and is 400 metres from the playground,” said the board.
According to the board, there wasn’t enough funding to install washrooms in the playground, but they are working on adding portable bathrooms.
The board said new permanent washrooms will be built as part of the Creekside Park extension program, but construction won’t begin until at least 2020.
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