Staff Reporter
The waterfront parks are jewels in Toronto's crown for residents and tourists alike.
The popular Sir Casimir Gzowski Park, between Windermere and Ellis Aves., is a western gateway to the lakefront system and has a beach, wading pool and picnic area, with a playground coming this fall.
It's also home to the classic faux-chateau Joy Oil gas station, now being renovated into a snack bar and information centre.
Sir Casimir is busy year-round as a starting point for runners, cyclists and walkers using the boardwalk and waterfront trail.
Spoiling all this is a "horrible" women's washroom that always has water "and who knows what else" on the floor, complains reader Sue Christie.
The toilets are rusty and probably leaking, she adds. The cap on one faucet is missing, the chrome on the others is chipped and often, there isn't any soap.
"It would be better to have porta potties – at least they would be clean – but then you couldn't wash your hands," Christie said, adding when nature calls, it's the only public washroom to be found for a long stretch of the waterfront.
On a recent visit, the Fixer found the washroom floor had been swabbed down – you could smell the disinfectant – but the washroom was really run down. Paint was peeling on the ceiling, gum was stuck here and there, one sink had become detached from the wall. The caulking around the sinks was black and fuzzy. Two slimy bars of soap were sitting on paper towels on the sinks.
Christie said she's often heard mothers warning their children not to use the washroom in bare feet.
"When people who live here can't stand it, what kind of impression do you think it makes on visitors?"
STATUS: We contacted city supervisor Kevin Bowser, who said the washroom is slated for renovation in the next three or four years. Before then, the public may get a new washroom in the Joy Oil building, but plans aren't firmed up.
WHO'S RESPONSIBLE: Kevin Bowser, manager of parks, west district, 416-394-2486; kbows@toronto.ca
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