Two Magnuson Park Questions Tentatively Answered

Dear Diary,

I don't know whether anything changed today north of 45th St, but Burke-Gilman Playground Park's restrooms were open when I got there, shortly after 8 A.M., and Ravenna Park's were still open when I left there, at 7:19 P.M.

It dawned on me that I'd probably be unable to get to Magnuson Park for some time, and I had questions left over from last time.  Specifically, I wanted to look more carefully for water fountains; and I wanted to put my impression from last time, that there are no "hand-washing stations", on a firmer footing.

Well, I got very different results for these two questions.  I only looked for the hand-washing stations near the "sanicans", and I may have found all of those, without one hand-washing station in sight.  But I only found four water fountains; surely a park of that size has more than that?  Anyway, none of them were running.

My phone was dying the entire time, so I didn't take a lot of photos, and anyway, who wants to see dozens of pictures of "sanicans"?  So my evidence consists only of telling you where the "sanicans" I found are, so you can look for yourself.  Here, then, is a tour of Warren G. Magnuson Park.

Northwest

Magnuson Park is a rectangle with protrusions on the northwest and the southeast.  I used as my guide for the tour the newer map referenced in my last post, because it shows "sanican" locations.  Here's the northwest on that map:

North is to your left on this map; east is up.

This map shows restrooms with a bright blue restroom symbol, and "sanicans" with a teal version.  This heavily built up area not only has the two "sanicans" mapped above, but another, the only one I found in the park of a different brand, behind Building 2.  Near that is an "emergency shower and eyewash".  I'm not sure it's currently usable, and anyway an alarm is supposed to sound when it's used, so I don't recommend it to members of the general public, whether housed or homeless.

74th Street Entrance

This area has a real restroom, not shown on this map and still not "seasonally" open:

It also has a bunch of "sanicans", mostly where the map shows them, but there's now one northwest of the Brig, and the one that's supposed to be between Fields 6 and 11 is missing:

The one mapped as near the dogs' off-leash area is actually inside it.  Also there are two devices for drawing water for dogs.  I didn't figure either one out, but water was on the ground near each.  Looks like, on April 29, dogs are allowed water in Magnuson Park, but not people.  In particular a water fountain south of the playground isn't running.

North central and coast

As you see, this area has the two real restrooms currently open.  It also has unmapped "sanicans":  two near the coastal restroom, and one outside the entrance to the off-leash beach.

The interior men's room had a new soap dispenser, but some guys had apparently found the sturdiness of park toilets a challenge, and had somehow blocked both.  I didn't check whether the dryer in the coastal men's room had been fixed.  Neither water fountain near these restrooms was running.  I wanted to take pictures of neat stuff, but haven't really noticed much in this park, let alone near the restrooms.  But I do like the beach's ducks (sorry it's such a bad shot):

I neglected to look for "sanicans" near parking lot E4, and deliberately ignored most of the off leash area.

South Coast

This area has the recently deceased restroom.  On this visit a thin but steady stream of water was flowing from it.  It has two unmapped "sanicans" near it; its water fountain, damaged but usable, isn't running.  The mapped "sanicans" are still there.  I didn't enter the area labelled "Wetlands Central", nor the eastern trails in Promontory Point.

Southeast (Promontory Point)

The "sanicans" shown are still in parking lot E5.  I did walk the western trails of Promontory Point and saw no plumbing, but there's an unmapped "sanican" at their entrance on 65th Ave.

South Central

This area is entirely covered in other maps above.

65th Street Entrance

The southern two "sanicans" on Sportsfield Drive are still there.  I didn't investigate the areas south of 65th Street here.

Whew, dear Diary.  I hope to have more actual news for you next time I go to Magnuson Park.  As a sendoff, something from a permission wall south of Cross Park Trail:

We're All In This Together

Dear Diary,

Today is almost another boring day - restrooms open at Burke-Gilman Playground Park and Ravenna Park, closed at Ravenna Park, Cowen Park and University Playground; water fountains working at BGPP and Ravenna Park, but not at Ravenna Park and University Playground.  (I forgot to check Cowen Park's water fountain.)

But it wasn't completely boring because BGPP's restrooms weren't actually opened until an unfamiliar guy showed up at 8:30 A. M., quickly unlocked them, and drove off again.  In the short term this delay forced me to do Number One at BGPP, but not in its restroom, dear Diary, yet again falling short of our mayor's high ideals.  But seen from a longer perspective, the events suggest that the parks department is aware that it needs to get the rooms open, even when it's short-staffed.  If true, that would be great.

I took the usual door photos, but will commemorate this pleasing development by posting instead some neat-stuff photos.
Here's a closer view of BGPP's sundial and fortress:

And here are a couple of things from University Playground - the beginning of a rather challenging exercise program, and a troll trying to knock down some playground equipment:

Now, seriously...

Dear Diary, I've realised that I'm shortchanging you, depriving you of things you need.  You're a Primary Source for The Time of the Coronavirus, but I've hardly mentioned the disease, and have taken for granted that your readers in the far future will just know why park restrooms mattered at the time.

I have a solution.  I'm going to give you some data.  Actual numbers.  Won't that improve your standings in the primary source competitions?  Not only that, but these may be unique data.  Sure, everyone talks about the importance of handwashing to beat the coronavirus, but I haven't seen anyone else publish a count of their handwashings.  So to proceed:

Friday, 24 April - 4

1.  At the beach restroom at Magnuson Park, at its sink, using the soap provided.

2.  At the right-hand restroom at Laurelhurst Community Center, same conditions.

3.  Same place, same conditions, a few minutes later.

4.  At Ravenna Park's restroom, same conditions.

Saturday, 25 April - 2

1.  At Burke-Gilman Playground Park's restroom, in its left-hand sink, using the soap provided.

2.  At Ravenna Park's hand-washing station, in the basin facing east, using the soap provided.

Sunday, 26 April - 2

1.  At Burke-Gilman Playground Park's restroom, in its left-hand sink, using the soap provided.

2.  At Safeway at University Village's restroom, in its sink, using the soap provided.

Monday, 27 April - 3

1.  At BGPP's restroom, you know the dtill.

2.  At Ravenna Park's restroom, ditto.

3.  At Safeway's restroom, ditto.

Tuesday, 28 April - 3 so far

1.  At Burke-Gilman Playground Park, in its water fountain, using my own dish detergent.

2.  Same park's restroom, an hour later, usual routine.

3.  Ravenna Park's restroom, usual routine.

So what do you think, dear Diary?  Is that enough?  Will I win a Healthy Citizen Award?

I think those numbers scientifically demonstrate that I need to get some hand sanitiser.

One more number:

Percentage of time spent wearing a face mask:  0.00%.

Honestly, I can't even maintain my usual low standards of hygiene; how am I to tend something we've all been warned about handling with care?

FOUND: Park Drinking Water NEAR UW!!

Ooh, dear Diary, I'm so excited!

Having only recently found out that Ravenna Park has two restrooms, I should of course have expected at least one water fountain near each.  So today when I went to the "seasonal" rooms to verify that they're still closed (yep), I looked for one.  And wonder of wonders, unlike the water fountain near the main restrooms, it's running!

So I have no idea whether it was running all winter or turned on a few weeks ago - the drain is too clogged for it to have been turned on today - anyway, I feel kind of like one of those European explorers claiming to have discovered something the locals knew all along.  Maybe for them this is the way it's always been, but for me it's running water near the UW.  Yesterday I was wrong to say I was "miles" from running water.  I was only one mile from it.  Yahoo!

In other news, the restrooms at Burke-Gilman Playground Park and the main restrooms at Ravenna Park are open today, but I decided to take the day off from pictures of doorways that are as boring for me to take as for you, dear Diary, to contain.  So today I'll show you some of the neat things near those restrooms instead.

Three of those things at BGPP line up neatly:  a grill, a sundial, and a really cool fortress the neighbours, adult and child, frequently play in:

I also wanted to show you the mural, pieces of which appear in many of those door shots:

At Ravenna Park, they brag about how the park has its roots in the Olmsteads' work, and here are a couple of hints of that, the bowl where the jazz concert was, and one of three curiously complex doors in the main restroom building:

This part of Ravenna Park also hosts a bunch of sculptures by R. Doughton of plants and animals presumably meant to inhabit the park's ravine:

And one thing I tend to forget, a patch of purple pavement at the bowl's edge:

I hope you enjoy those, dear Diary.

Credits, tardily

I didn't get the idea for this Diary out of the blue.  Probably the first signal to which I really paid attention was an article by Nathalie Graham in The Stranger:

Seattle Just Green-lit New Hygiene Access for the Homeless
March 18

Graham is also the author of the next relevant article in The Stranger:

That Sink in the Alley Is Supposed to Be There
October 16

However, most of what I've read has been by Erica C. Barnett of The C Is for Crank, now PubliCola.  See in particular:

City Ditches Gold-Plated Shower Vendor, item 3
September 18

Mobile Shower Immobilized, item 2

September 15

Found: One City Shower Trailer, Not Quite Open, in Secluded Location with Minimal Foot Traffic
May 23

The City Has Been Renting Two Shower Trailers Since March. If They Open, Each Shower Could Cost $500
May 19

County Rents Hygiene Trailers for a Fraction of What the City Is Paying
April 28

City Plans to Reopen Restrooms at Six [Five] Library Branches
April 21

Seattle Pays Premium for Shower Trailers
April 15

Advocates Beg for Toilets, Running Water
April 8

[Untitled second item]
April 7

Hepatitis A Spreads among Ballard Homeless Population, as Hygiene Stations and Restrooms Remain in Short Supply
April 2

The City Funded New Hygiene Trailers Last Year, but Never Bought Them
April 1

Seattle's Public Restroom Crisis
March 30

Potty Plan Scaled Back [item 2]
March 27

More Port-a-Potties in Seattle [item 2]
March 25

Library Closures Leave Homeless Patrons Stranded [item 1]
March 14

There have also been articles in The Seattle Times.  I don't remember any as breaking new ground, but one of the authors sent me a list, and my memory may be wrong.  So judge for yourself.  These stories have seemed to be exempt from the site's otherwise somewhat unpredictable paywall, but more recently have seemed not to be, so no promises.

A game-changer for homelessness?
May 3, by Sydney Brownstone, Scott Greenstone and Anna Patrick, with contributions by Alan Berner.  Not primarily about this topic, but since it quotes me on the topic, and is what publicised this blog, I can hardly leave it out.

Seattle will reopen 5 library bathrooms during coronavirus pandemic
April 21, by Sydney Brownstone and Daniel Beekman, with a contribution from an unidentified photographer

Here's what the Seattle area has - and hasn't - done to protect its homeless population from coronavirus
April 11, by Sydney Brownstone and Anna Patrick with contributions from Scott Greenstone and Dean Rutz.  My memory was clearly wrong on this one.

King County faces 2 outbreaks at once, as hepatitis A spreads amid coronavirus pandemic
April 8, by Sydney Brownstone and Scott Greenstone with a contribution from Mark Nowlin

People living outside in Seattle have far fewer options for protecting from coronavirus
March 12, by Sydney Brownstone with contributions by Lauren Flannery, Anna Patrick, Scott Greenstone, Lauren Frohne and Dean Rutz

I first learnt of the most recent story via The Seattle Times, but have been unable to read it there because of the paywall. However, it was originally written for, and published by, the Pew Trusts' non-profit Stateline, which has not paywalled it.
The Pandemic Has Closed Public Restrooms, and Many Have Nowhere to Go
July 23, by Alex Brown, with several uncredited photos; not Seattle-specific, but focuses on Seattle.

I Level Up, Wielding "Sanicans"

OK, dear Diary,

Now maybe I get it.  I hadn't understood that our mayor's challenge was progressive.  A kind of game, if you will.

I'd meant to take yesterday off from it, just lazily use Safeway's toilet and University Village's water fountains and rest.  But I woke up with hands dirty in a way that I OCDishly handle with a really long wash that I couldn't possibly get away with at Safeway.  Luckily the restrooms at Burke-Gilman Playground Park were open.

You can see my cart in the doorway of the men's room.  (And yes, that's my umbrella cropping that photo.)

After that, though, I didn't go back to any parks the rest of the day.

Today has been ordinary too.  Again, BGPP was open:

But this time I did check Ravenna Park - and its restrooms were locked, its water fountain still not running.

So yeah, a game.  On Friday, with Ravenna Park's restrooms open, the numerous homeless people of the U-District should have intuited that they wouldn't have far to go.  Today, with it closed, the object is to get to BGPP, Magnuson or Green Lake, again without being told.  It's kind of like the no-notice sweeps that have become the norm lately:  a game of musical chairs our kind mayor casts us in for our entertainment.

But like a more modern game, our mayor's game has hidden complexities, side quests so to speak.  You'll remember, dear Diary, that I told you back in my first note that my primary concern is running water.  So I haven't said much to you about "sanicans", which feature no running water, or even "hand washing stations", which don't feature much.  But our mayor has made it very clear that her game includes "sanicans".

So I thought, when both my gut and my bladder threatened to burst last night, exactly as I'd planned, but too late for park bathrooms, that I'd failed the mayor's challenge yet again, my body insisting on untimely relief.  But two friends wanted to talk, so I didn't manage to reach Safeway until 9:50, ten minutes before closing, when my dastardly plan to use their bathroom was instantly foiled by a locked door.

I hoped to shut my body up, so dawdled awhile, but finally gave in and went to find a "sanican" the University keeps in the lower, eastern part of its campus.  But it was out of toilet paper.  Oh, what to do?

After more dawdling, I finally did Number One in that "sanican", which enabled me to hike north to Ravenna Park, which has one next to a "hand washing station".  Now, last night the Ravenna Park "sanican" was surrounded by three things one would hope never to find near one:  mud, an actual puddle, and a hose emerging from it, its other end loose on the ground, so help me God.  Today around noon, 12 hours after my adventure, the hose was gone, but you can still see the mud and the puddle:

Probably both are made by the machines that service the "sanican", not by actual spillage, but try to tell yourself that at 1 A.M.  Anyway, I was finally able to do Number Two, followed by a decidedly non-OCDish sort of hand-washing, and get on with the hike to bed.

So yeah, I thought I'd flunked, with untimely bodily urges leading me to break an actual law and enter a park after closing.  But now maybe I understand the kindness of our mayor's master plan.    The correct way to see things is that by wielding the awesome power of the "sanicans", I advanced in knowledge, and became better prepared to spend today miles from running water.  Gosh, I wonder what more sources of hidden knowledge our mayor has included in this game?  Dear Diary, I can't wait to find out!

Our Main Characters

Dear Diary,

By the time I finished exploring Magnuson Park yesterday I was pretty thirsty, since I hadn't found a single water fountain in the park providing water.  (It's a huge place; there may have been such a fountain that I didn't find, but actually I doubt that.)

The thing to do, of course, was to go to Burke-Gilman Playground Park, where I so often start my days.

Burke-Gilman Playground Park

This park's main current claim to fame is that it's the only park in a large part of Seattle with a working drinking fountain.  While that should change any day now - heck, the water in Cal Anderson, Volunteer and Roanoke Parks has been on for some time already - yesterday none of the others worked.  The fountain is built into the wall of the restroom, which doubtless helped keep the pipes from freezing over the winter, but there's a fountain built into the wall of Magnuson Park's warm-water restroom, and that fountain was off yesterday.

The other thing that makes BGPP so appealing these days is that it has two sinks, at least in its men's room, which means that at least early in the morning there's no reason at all to worry about the actual shortage of sinks; I can wash my hands and dishes in peace.

Anyway, yesterday around noon the restrooms were open:

These rooms are way off at one end of this small but long park, much easier to reach from Sand Point Way than from the Burke-Gilman Trail.

Laurelhurst Community Center

This isn't actually a major character in you, dear Diary, because although it's much closer to where I sleep than any of the others, it's a nightmare to get to.  You have to approach it through the steep hills of 41st St, and it's down another steep hill from the community center proper.  But if you manage to get there, what you get is exceptionally nice:  two separate lockable stalls, with everything working in the one I tried.  Unfortunately I found this out sort of the hard way yesterday:  as I tested the sink my middle-aged bladder snuck up on me and made me do Number One in my pants, two feet from a toilet.  Photo (no, not of that):

I don't know if you can see it, but the sinks have two taps, one of which gives warm water right away.  Sadly, at least the nearest water fountain to these rooms isn't running, or it'd almost be worth the arduous journey.

Ravenna Park

Since this is much the closest park to campus, I have some history with it.  The main restrooms, a block or two east of Ravenna Boulevard, are usually open and work fine:

Unfortunately, the restrooms north of 20th Ave are "seasonal", which yesterday still meant "not yet".

See that lock on the door?  The women's room didn't have such a visible symbol but was also locked.

Cowen Park

This isn't going to be a major character either, because its restrooms can only be reached across a whole lot of gravel, or some gravel and a whole lot of stairs.  (They're what's down the stairs from where Cowen Pl meets 15th Ave.)  That said, a photo I took earlier but deleted showed the actual announcement of seasonal closure as litter on the men's room floor.  That's been removed, but the locks remain:

The water fountain near these wasn't running yesterday.

University Playground

Last comes the one I used to know best.  I slept on Roosevelt for years, making this parklet at 50th St and 8th Ave practically next door; before my aging bladder forced me to make peace with doing Number One outside, I used the "sanican" here many times.

Not so much the restroom proper.  It was preferable, though creepy, for the chance it offered to wash hands; but I usually wasn't around during its open hours.  Except that once a year, for a few weeks, the restroom was left open 24/7.

It's been too long for me to describe the amenities, because this is yet another "seasonal" restroom not open as of yesterday:

So that was my tour.  I'd meant to go to a gas station and get a more up-to-date map of Seattle than the one I carry, but instead had to hurry back to Ravenna Park.  Then I ate supper there - that last photo is from around 5:30 P.M. - and that kept me there long enough to find something new and different:  a jazz performance in the green bowl at the park's eastern end, a socially distanced concert.  No pictures, because it wasn't quite as socially distanced as it probably should've been, but a very nice end to a day in the parks.

Magnuson Park: Things We've Lost, Part I

Dear Diary,

I was embarrassed enough by all of yesterday's bloviation to want to do better today, and I didn't have much to do on campus anyway, so why not?  This led to a day of excruciating personal embarassments but a lot of material for you, dear Diary.

I started north early enough that I thought nothing of it on finding Burke-Gilman Playground Park's restrooms locked.  It was just past 7 A.M.; of course they were.  Unfortunately, I needed to be thinking more personally.  Not much later, just south of the intersection between Sand Point Way and 50th Ave, I had to turn onto a trail to do, um, Number One.  And a woman jogged past while I was doing it!  Dear Diary, I don't think I've failed the mayor's challenge quite so badly ever before.

All the same, this made a really thorough exploration of Magnuson Park doable.  Near the men's room I posted about before, the one with a warm-water sink, there's an old map of the park.  Someone with a better camera should photograph that map before it's torn down, but here's what I could do:

Notice that it shows seven restrooms.  A newer map near the entrance:

only knows of three, and the city today knows of two (PDF).  So what became of the seven restrooms of Magnuson Park?  Four near the shore, two near the city side, and one in between.  Let's start there.  There is today a restroom on the Cross Park Trail, as indicated on both maps, and I found it open:

Unfortunately it doesn't have any soap - looks like someone vandalised the dispenser to steal it:

But you see those two taps?  Looks like it's meant to give cold or warm water, though I didn't get any warm on a quick try.

This restroom isn't reachable from pavement, only from gravel, so probably won't mean much to me with my cart.

The most obvious path away leads to the place I told you, dear Diary, about before:

The open door is the dark spot behind a sign; note the lifeguard station visible between the two halves of the building.  This area was hopping by now, about 8 A.M., so it's unfortunate the dryer doesn't work; waving my cheese knife around trying to dry it was much more epatering les bourgeoises than I really like to do.

Anyway, that's the end of the good news.  The next restroom south should be there according to both maps, and the building is, but there's a fence around it:

You can hear water flowing, and maybe the rusty pavement on one side is thanks to an irremediable plumbing problem, or to too-hasty removal of the appliances.  Notice also the broken water fountain:

From here, it's mostly a guessing game.  Many of the "sanicans" scattered like confetti around the park are at present or former restroom sites; two occupy what I think is the visible scar of the old restroom site at the boat launch:

But there are none near what I suspect is the old parking lot site:

The hardest one to find is the one that used to be near 70th St.  I think its former site is now occupied by Sportsfield Drive, but maybe one of these road edge segments shows part of the scar:

Finally we get to a restroom that still exists even though it isn't on the newer map, the one on the east side of the Brig:

Unfortunately, it's apparently only open seasonally, meaning "not yet".

So that's what we've kept and what we've lost of the astonishing abundance of restrooms that used to be available in Magnuson Park.  Much of you, dear Diary, can be read by evil-minded sorts as critical of our wonderful mayor, but in this case it's obvious that this wastage of our inheritance happened over decades; I'd be mildly surprised to learn that any of the three missing buildings were torn down on the current mayor's watch.  Roanoke Park used to have a restroom, but not since I came here in 2006.  Who knows how much else we've abandoned along the way?

The rest of today's story hasn't happened yet, so comes in the next post.