Important news for people who pee at the public library

Patrons at the downtown Centennial Library will be forced to either step outside to relieve themselves or try to squeeze into Lilliputian washrooms in the children's department during upcoming winter renovations of lower-level public washrooms.

"It is going to be an inconvenience and discomfort," concedes Luke Dufour, a member of the library board leading a last-minute scramble to get the Canada 150 infrastructure project finished before the federal funding program shuts down on March 31. 

The renovations, intended to improve wheelchair accessibility in the half-century-old washrooms, were originally approved by library board members in October 2015 as part of a three-year strategic plan.

Funding under the Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program was approved by FedNor in February 2016, but Nor Mech Engineering Inc. wasn't retained to produce working drawings until October of 2017.

Design work will be completed tomorrow or Thursday.

The deadline to substantially complete the $100,000 project and submit all bills to the government was Dec. 31.

"That deadline was missed by staff," said Dufour.

FedNor has granted an extension allowing the library to submit its paperwork as late as Mar. 26, just five days before the end of the federal fiscal year.

FedNor funds only half of the cost of the renovations and Matthew MacDonald, acting chief executive officer and director of public libraries, is working on a request to City Council for $50,000 in matching funds to complete the work.

Dufour says the library has been trying to save money by scheduling renovations during the construction down-season.

An earlier component of the same project, replacing carpeting in the library's public areas, was completed in this way last year for $60,000 less than the original quote from EPOH Inc. 

"That's why we left it until so late this year, but the process was started in October and there were some delays with staff finishing it," Dufour said.

The original 1966 terrazzo floor in the downstairs washrooms will be retained.

"The engineer specifically recommended that we keep the terrazzo because it is so period-appropriate and durable," Dufour said.

The top layer of the terrazzo will be ground down and the floor will then be re-sealed.

"It is part of the board's desired policy to try to keep the interior decoration in accordance with the Mid-Century Modern style of the building," Dufour said.

The renovated washrooms are expected to have more sturdy partitions to handle accessibility grab bars, and the layout configuration will be changed to accomodate turning radiuses of wider wheelchairs.

New light-emitting diode (LED) lighting will be installed and leaking fixtures will be upgraded.

Toilets must be replaced because the existing fixtures were "Mickey-Moused together," Dufour told a meeting of the library board on Monday.

The renovated washrooms won't be 100 percent barrier-free because of space constraints, Dufour said, but "this puts us substantially more compliant."

Dufour said the renovations are expected to take between four and six weeks to complete.

The request for proposals is expected to be prepared next week.

"I'd imagine we're going to be using outdoor porta-potties for mid-February to mid-March," Dufour said, indicating that exact dates will be determined by the selected contractor.

Washrooms in the children's library are available for use by adults but the doors are so narrow that adults typically must turn to get through.

Any time that the adjacent Art Gallery of Algoma is open, its accessible washrooms are expected to be available to library patrons during the winter renovations.

Otherwise, accessible portable toilets be available, probably just outside the Centennial Library's entrance canopy, Dufour said.

The alternative would have been to renovate the men's and women's washrooms one at a time, but that would risk losing the FedNor funding, he said.

"The end result justifies the means, because we will be serving our handicapped patrons much better with these renovated bathrooms."

Library officials expect the renovation work will be completed within budget and they are hopeful the funding will also cover design work on future renovations and expansion of the upstairs washrooms, allowing full barrier-free accessibility there.

That project will be more complicated than the lower-level washrooms because the walls of the upstairs washrooms must be moved out into the library's stacks area.