The City of Regina announced they would provide a 24-hour portable washroom in Victoria Park, focusing on helping those living on the streets.

The announcement comes after the city removed an unauthorized porta-potty in another park near the downtown.

The City currently has two public-use washrooms downtown, one in City Hall and the other in the Regina Central Library.

City Manager Nikki Anderson said neither of those washrooms is open 24 hours a day.

“We are in the process of putting a portable washroom in Victoria Park. We’re hoping that it will be up by the end of the week, and we plan on having it open 24 hours a day,” she said. “Regina, as with many cities, can experience challenges with washrooms in the downtown core, so we will have washroom attendance on-site for the entire time that they are open.”

“Really, what we’re trying to do is make sure that our most used parks, the ones that are activated, have washroom facilities available,” she added.

Anderson said they would monitor the washroom usage, as this is the first time they have had a 24-hour washroom available in the downtown core.

While the portable washroom is a short-term goal, Anderson said they are working on a longer-term solution.

“We are working with the Downtown Business Association, and they have been gracious in offering the ice shack and allowing us to repurpose that for a permanent washroom,” she said. “Because it’s considered a donation though we do have to bring it to council, and so we’re preparing a report for that, and then that’s our plan for kind of a longer-term washroom downtown that’s permanent and not temporary.”

Anderson noted that the city is aware that work needs to continue when it comes to downtown washrooms.

“I realize that we don’t have good wayfinding signs, and so you will see in the near future better wayfinding to make sure that everybody knows that they’re available to the general public.”

She added that downtown public washrooms have been “on the list” of projects the city is working on and that the city has received funding for a currently underway project.