Final May 2021 Water Fountain and Restroom Maps

Dear Diary,

I just finished updating the maps, having already updated the spreadsheet they're based on.  I've uploaded the spreadsheet, again in .ods and .csv formats, to the Google Drive folder where the door and fountain shots are kept, and now I'm uploading the resulting maps to you, dear Diary.

This is my last challenge to your readers to figure out the pattern they show, and say they've done so in comments or by e-mail to me.  This page includes a significant hint.  Once I've finished my next project, I'll be ready to explain that pattern and what I think is the thinking behind it.

For each map, I put in at half-intensity some buildings that have re-opened but only for a fraction of their pre-pandemic hours.  These are Lake City Community Center and Meadowbrook Pool in green, and the Broadview and Lake City branches of the Seattle Public Library in purple.  (Awkwardly, purple is also the colour I use for park restrooms I've found both open and closed during normal open hours, but I hope I won't need to keep showing you, dear Diary, these maps by the time the libraries re-open for their full hours.)

I also, this time, put in Shilshole Bay Marina's main building, which has that unique-in-Seattle sign reading "Public Restrooms" without a "No" in front of it.  This is in black, representing non-city ownership, as are the restrooms at the Locks, all at full intensity since, as far as I know, they're all keeping their normal full hours.

I considered, but rejected, the idea of putting in the supermarkets.  First because I'm not familiar with all of them, and it often takes familiarity to use their water fountains or restrooms; second because I wasn't sure where to stop, having myself used the restrooms at a location I otherwise would probably have forgotten and omitted, Metropolitan Market.  I want to point out, however, that the University District currently holds only a Trader Joe's supermarket, and despite living near it for years, I never managed to figure out whether they had restrooms or a water fountain, let alone where.  Until last year, it also had a Safeway, to use whose restrooms one had to be shown by an employee down a long flight of stairs, but that Safeway is now torn down, the replacement unlikely to appear before pandemic's end.

Anyway:

Water fountains

The main colour is white, for water fountains not visibly damaged but not running.

I had mixed feelings about putting in the buildings named above on this map, considering that most if not all have mask requirements that mean water fountains are only usable with bottles.  But since my main concern here is not actually water for the general public, but for the homeless, and homeless people in present circumstances have pretty much had to adapt to bottles, I decided it was OK to include those buildings.  I assume without actually checking that each building has an accessible and running water fountain, and map it in whatever colour I mentioned above, not blue, white, or red.

Fourteen are red, for water fountains that couldn't be drunk from even if the water were running.  These are:

• Baker Park on Crown Hill - water fountain never installed
• Bitter Lake Playfield - playfield water fountain damaged presumably by metal thieves
  
• Burke-Gilman Trail - western water fountain removed, terribly damaged presumably by metal thieves
• Loyal Heights Playfield - damaged but useable water fountain removed from construction area
• Magnuson Park - damaged water fountain near "tower" restrooms
  
• Meridian Playground - water fountain almost entirely removed, presumably by metal thieves
• street fountain on 15th Ave NE - fenced off in preparation for demolition
  
• View Ridge Playfield - playground water fountain removed by staff of the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation
  
• Woodland Park - three water fountains (northwest and two near the 50th St restrooms) more or less decapitated, two others (near Field #1) eviscerated, the latter certainly and the former possibly by metal thieves; one fenced away from the public for use by lawn bowlers
  

Eleven are in blue, actually running:

• Ballard Commons
• Bitter Lake Playfield, playground fountain
• Burke-Gilman Trail, eastern fountain
  
• Crown Hill Park
  
• Gilman Playground
• Greenwood Park
• Jackson Park
  
• Licton Springs Park
• Pinehurst Playground
  
• Sunset Place
• University Playground
  

One at Virgil Flaim Park is in purple; it can probably be used for bottles, after the vandalism I described in the previous page last night, but not for regular drinking.

Let's compare this to the list of water fountains I found running last May and June.  Note that this May I found several water fountains I wasn't aware of then, and also last October a few (mostly in Woodland and Green Lake Parks).  So my list of fountains running last May and June may be incomplete, but let's compare anyhow.

• Ballard Commons
• Burke-Gilman Playground Park
  
• Gilman Playground
• Green Lake Small Craft Center, fountains attached to two buildings
  
• Jackson Park
• Licton Springs Park
• Little Brook Park
  
• Northacres Park
  
• Pinehurst Playground
• Ravenna Park
• street fountains on 15th Ave NE and on N 45th St
  
• Sunset Place

Twelve park water fountains then, twelve (counting Virgil Flaim, which isn't the parks department's fault) now.

Restrooms

Because, as of my last visits, two different restroom pairs were open only to members of one gender, I made separate maps for men and for women.

For men:

 For women:

The dominant colour by far is blue, for open restrooms.

Red, for restrooms closed every time I visited, are these:

• Ballard Playground
• Cowen Park
  
• Gilman Playground
• Green Lake Community Center, women's room only
  
• Licton Springs Park
• Magnuson Park, Brig and "tower" restrooms
• Matthews Beach, shower restrooms and one single-user stall
  
• Ravenna Park, "upper" restrooms, and also "lower" men's room
  
• University Playground
  
• Woodland Park, Citywide Athletics Building ("Rio")

A distinction among these that I think important is that at Gilman, Green Lake, Ravenna, and Woodland there are explanatory signs; at the rest, there aren't.

I forgot to redden the blue for two restroom locations that I found closed repeatedly but have also found open, Little Brook Park and Maple Leaf Reservoir Park, on the men's map.

And here is my wide-open hint as to the differences between last year's Durkan Drought and this year's, a list of the open restrooms or pairs:

• Bitter Lake Playfield
• Burke-Gilman Playground Park
• Carkeek Park
  
• Dahl Playfield
• Gas Works Park
• Golden Gardens Park, beach and dog restrooms
  
• Green Lake Park, 64th St ("65th St"), wading pool and Batthhouse Theater pairs, plus Green Lake Community Center (men's room only) and Green Lake Small Craft Center ("Shellhouse")
  
• Greenwood Park
  
• Jackson Park
• Laurelhurst Community Center
• Loyal Heights Community Center
  
• Magnuson Park, central ("sport") and beach restrooms
  
• Matthews Beach, one of the single-user stalls
• Meadowbrook Playfield
• Meridian Playground
• Northacres Park, playfield and park pairs
• Ravenna Park, "lower" women's room only
• Ross Park
  
• Salmon Bay Park
  
• Sandel Playground
• Soundview Playfield
  
• View Ridge Playfield
• Woodland Park, lawn bowling, Pink Palace, Cloverleaf and 50th St pairs
  
• Wallingford Playfield

I can hardly wait to see whether anyone notices the pattern, dear Diary.  Happy days and nights; it'll be several before I write in you again.  Until then.