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Parking garage restroom is closed Until it's decided who takes care of it By JULIE SWENSEN Have you tried to go into the public bathroom in Medford's new parking garage only to find it locked, with no one inside? If so, you're not alone. "I wondered why they were locked," said Tamra Riley, a college student who walks through the garage almost every day to class. She first thought someone was inside, but after a while, she realized the door was locked too often for coincidence. So why is it closed? Mike Webber, administrative assistant with the Medford Urban Renewal Agency, which built the garage, said vandalism to the restroom soon after it opened is one reason. So is the question of who is going to pay to clean it. Details are still being worked out, Webber said. "We've had some complaints. It is valid. We built those for the public," he said. "We want to protect our investment." Within about a week of the completion of the 382-space, $4.2 million garage north of East Main, a vandal caused some minor damage to the unisex restroom, strewing around toilet paper and dumping soap out of the dispenser. Because a maintenance crew wasn't on board yet, the bathroom was locked for about a month until a crew was up and running. Right now, money out of the city's vehicle parking fund pays for a crew to clean the restroom in the 10-month-old garage once a week. But a once-a-week cleaning isn't enough for a restroom to be open to the public every day. And there's no one available to open and close the restroom. Officials were thinking a merchant that would lease some of the garage's 3,000 square feet of retail space could open the restroom for the day. But while a couple of leases are being worked on now, no merchants have set up shop yet. Also, it hasn't yet been worked out whether the city will pay for bathroom maintenance out of its budget, or if the merchants will pay. Webber said it's a question of who the restroom is serving. "It takes some time to get a working program in place," Webber said. He said he didn't know when the restroom might be open. Until things are worked out, the restroom will be open for special events, such as the Jazz Jubilee and the Christmas tree lighting ceremony. Otherwise, you may want to make a pit stop before you park. "There isn't much available downtown-wise as far as public access to bathrooms," Riley said. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA