Tourists on their way through North Battleford will need to find somewhere else to go to the washroom as of March 1.
The Battlefords Chamber of Commerce has confirmed the public washrooms located at their building at the junction of Highways 16 and 40 will no longer be available year-round as of that date.
The intention going forward is to make the washrooms available on a limited basis over the summer months for those having picnics in the area. But those would only be open during regular business hours while staff is there. The intent is to close them the rest of the time, including on weekends.
The decision marks the final end for the Battlefords Chamber building as a venue for visitor services.
The washrooms had been part of the old Visitor Information Centre that had been located at the Chamber. But the Chamber lost its contract for the visitor centre three years ago.
Even though they no longer functioned as a visitor centre, the washrooms had remained open at the Chamber building as a courtesy for tourists still used to going to the location.
However, Chamber executive director Linda Machniak explained at the Chamber board meeting Tuesday the organization no longer receives funding as a visitor centre, and operates primarily as a business office now.
She cited costs and staff time spent cleaning the washrooms as factors in the decision to close them.
“We don’t have those excessive resources anymore,” Machniak said.
Still, the Chamber expects to encounter questions from tourists passing through who will be asking what happened to the washrooms. “We’ll see come March 1 what the response is,” Machniak said.
