A few years back I (almost literally) stumbled upon the public toilets directly underneath Vancouver’s most trouble-prone intersection — Main Street and Hastings Street, Downtown — and their redoubt¬able caretakers, Jim and Julie Scott. To telescope a harrowing tale, this middle-aged couple turfed the sex-and-drug trade from the century¬old underground men’s and women’s toilets, and returned them to public use. And believe me, dealing with the females in particular (backed, of course, by their pimps) was no easy task. Julie is a soft¬spoken, no-nonsense native woman from northern Alberta. In a cubicle behind the toilets, decorated with photos of her children and grandkids, she reads paperback novels — her other eye on a mirror.
Jim is a genial, worldly soul who hands out far too many cigarettes to pleading drifters, and handles difficult situations with incredible calm.
Not only do the Scotts battle frequent violence and unspeakable messes, they face head-on the fierce and often irrational politics at this drug-trafficking central, including those of the adjacent city-run Carnegie community center.
The Scotts also oversee the only other historic public washrooms on the peninsula in Victory Square, on Hamilton Street, at Hastings Street (Downtown). These conveniences have something of an Art Deco appearance, and less traffic and turmoil.
The Vancouver Archives has architectural designs for other public toilets proposed at a time when there were no other public options. It’s a shame that those that were built, several with elaborate wrought-iron entrances, have long vanished. Good thing there are alternatives. Among accessible downtown washrooms are those in the public foyer of the Vancouver Art Gallery (750 Hornby Street); The Bay department store (Granville Street, at Georgia Street); and the Vancouver Public Library (350 West Georgia Street). The Broadway corridor can feel pretty toilet-unfriendly if you’re in a crunch, but no one blinks an eye if you slip into the Holiday Inn (711 West Broadway, Central Vancouver): you’ll find the facilities on your right, down the steps toward the lounge.
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