Gender Neutral Bathrooms Reopen at Lane Center

One Thursday afternoon recently, two students left the computer lab at the Lane Center. One says to the other, “Will they ever fix those bathrooms?” Indeed, the two restrooms located between The Bottom Line office and the AstraZeneca gym had been out of order prior to the start of the semester. We caught up with Allen Flanagan, Director of the Lane Center, this week to investigate the progress of the repairs and were met with a surprise. The restrooms were repaired throughout last week and reopened on Friday, Sept. 27.

Gender-neutral bathrooms may be a contentious conversation elsewhere in our country but shortly after Allen’s tenure began in 2016, he advocated for the establishment of two such restrooms to accommodate students of all identities. However, after a plumbing and drainage issue was realized in August 2019, the single-stall facilities were closed. Several students reported the inconvenience to The Bottom Line citing numerous reasons for use. One complaint, from a staff member at the Lane University Center, said the location of the restrooms allowed them quick access, another said a previous incidence of sexual assault meant that using a private, locking restroom gave them a sense of security.

The repair work, completed by RH Lapp & Sons, Inc. from Cumberland, Maryland, occurred during the early morning hours, so as to not disrupt normal function of the student center. The final figures for the cost of the repair were not available at press time, but the final solution included the replacement of the drain lines and the addition of a sewage pump, in order to ensure the long-term viability of the facilities. Flanagan remarked on the overall expeditiousness of the repairs saying, “We had to get those restrooms back open. We had to do it for our students.”