METRO VANCOUVER — For months, a group of Richmond lawn bowlers say, a man with long grey hair has been quietly slipping into a washroom near their club before the doors automatically lock at 9 p.m. and exiting when the locks disengage in the morning.
He doesn’t bother them, they say, but the phenomenon of a homeless person using the Minoru Park women’s washroom for overnight shelter now has the attention of the City of Richmond.
Various agencies will work with the man to try to find him alternative shelter, said city spokesman Ted Townsend, who added he’s only heard of one other instance of a homeless person staying in city washrooms overnight.
Public washrooms in Richmond are set to lock automatically at dusk throughout the year.
Many public washrooms have park caretakers living nearby, but Minoru’s does not, said city spokesman Townsend.
“What’s happened is [the washroom] does provide an attraction for homeless people because it provides them with a level of security.”
The Minoru Park man has been sighted by various members of the Richmond Lawn Bowling Club, who say they’re not worried about his presence.
“He never bothers us so we don’t care whether he’s inside or not,” said club president Ivan Wong.
“But we believe he has been there for some time, maybe months.”
Kion Wong, another club member, said he has seen other people, who he thinks may be homeless, hanging out in the park throughout the day.
Townsend said Richmond has no plan to change its automatic locking system, but “if we find that we continue to have people squatting in [the Minoru Park washroom] and it’s an ongoing problem, we’d look at going to manual service.”
Though homelessness is not as visible an issue in Richmond as in many other communities, many people still sleep outdoors on a regular basis, Townsend said.
Vancouver park board spokeswoman Barb Floden said all Vancouver’s public washrooms are manually locked overnight.
“Part of the work before they close [a washroom] is to make sure there’s nobody in there,” she said.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.