Park Restroom Improvements Proposed for 2025 Levy
Fianna Dickson, City of Spokane Parks & Recreation, Communications Manager, 509.625.6297
Wednesday, April 9, 2025 at 10:33 a.m.
Park restrooms are a topic we hear about frequently from park users -- especially this time of year, as the weather improves and most of our restrooms remain seasonally closed. (Most restrooms open in phases, beginning in May and ending in September.)
‘Improvements to park restrooms’ was one of the top two requests from our 2022 Master Plan outreach, with 7/10 respondents requesting upgrades.
The issues
- Old sewer/utility systems: while our park system is historic, many of the facilities are aged, too-antiquated sewer and utility systems aren’t reliable
- Vandalism-prone: many have exposed pipes and aren’t built to withstand damage attempts, leading to frequent closures
- Difficult to repair: older systems are harder to repair and maintain, resulting in longer downtime
- Maintenance shortages: maintenance teams are understaffed, especially over the cooler months
- ADA accessibility: many historic restrooms do not meet current ADA requirements
The proposed solutions
If approved by voters in a proposed November 2025 ballot item, the Parks Levy (part of Together Spokane) would:
- Renovate or replace every park restroom
- More reliable water systems for fewer outages
- Utility improvements for extended seasons in spring/fall, to better match needs per location
- Improved lighting and more durable fixtures
- Privacy partitions
- ADA upgrades and pathways
- Increase our Park Maintenance team by about 50%
- Faster vandalism repairs
- More frequent cleaning
Learn more about the 2025 Parks levy at www.SpokaneParks.org/levy.
To report restroom maintenance/vandalism issues, please call 311 (or 509.755.2489). Thank you.
More About...
