New public washroom, pickleball court coming to downtown Calgary community

A new public washroom and pickleball court are coming to Calgary’s East Village community.

The Calgary Municipal Land Corporation announced on Tuesday it has broken ground on the two projects and said they will be placed right across from the playground, community gardens and off-leash dog park at Crossroads, near the intersection of 7th Avenue and 6th Street Southeast.

The CMLC said 11 ideas were submitted in August 2022 from design teams all across Canada. The corporation said Public City, a firm from Winnipeg, was chosen to take on the project because of its safe, efficient, imaginative and architecturally unique design.

The washroom and pickleball court will bring vibrancy to the community while also keeping safety in mind, the CMLC. The 3,000-square-foot facility will have four universally accessible stalls, a shared handwashing space and a hand-drying station, in addition to a fenced-in pickleball court.

Both the court and the washrooms will be open seven days a week year-round and will be managed by the CMLC, including programming and security.

“We are excited to introduce a new concept that blends the community need for a permanent public washroom with a sought-after sports amenity to East Village,” said Claire LePan, CMLC’s vice-president of communications and partnerships.

“With more than 4,000 people who call East Village home and 80,000 visitors to our community annually, finding the right solution for a safe, accessible, and inclusive permanent public washroom has been paramount. The collaboration with Public City resulted not only in a functional facility but also a valuable community asset.”

The new washrooms will replace the current washrooms that were installed in 2012. CMLC closed them in 2022 due to “rising maintenance expenses and social challenges.”

“When designing the new structure, we took inspiration from the liveliness and inclusiveness synonymous with East Village. Pairing a public washroom with the rapidly expanding sport of pickleball was a unique challenge, but one we knew would add more pop to this vibrant, livable urban neighbourhood,” said Peter Sampson, principal and founding director of Public City.

“The role of public spaces has evolved significantly over the years. They now serve as more than just facilities for washroom use or sports but have become gathering places where people can actively engage or simply take a break to observe.”

The facility is anticipated to be completed in the late fall.

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