Bathrooms in Lubbock Parks Haven’t Been Cleaned Since October
The City of Lubbock likes to boast about all the parks that are available to families throughout the city. Because of our weather, especially this past year, parks really can be used beyond the spring and summer.
That's why it's a little disappointing to learn today that the City of Lubbock hasn't touched park bathrooms since October 2021. For months bathrooms in Lubbock parks haven't been cleaned, and we all know they've been used.
The excuse from the City of Lubbock? All 35 parks are winterized in late October so that way they can prevent frozen pipes and to stop vandalism, even though the bathrooms are still open, they just don't have any doors on them. This allows citizens, homeless, and even animals to get inside.
Meegan Honeyman with the City of Lubbock Parks and Recreation told KAMC News that most of the restrooms were built in the 1950s and 60s and that they know about the need for renovation.
According to KAMC, who spoke with Honeyman, renovating the bathrooms are part of the Master Plan, which is a 20-year plan.
"It's going to be a 20-yearlong plan where we do all of the renovations, we add things, we may subtract things that we don’t need anymore, but we really do recognize that our bathrooms need to have a refurbishment, and so that’s included in the master plan," she said.
It won't take 20 years to clean the bathrooms around Lubbock, but I don't think the city should have left them uncleaned for the past 5 months. The city has asked the public to remain patient while spring cleaning begins, but honestly the parks and citizens deserve better. Ignoring facilities is how problems stack up. It's not like every day during late fall and winter is below freezing. I'm not asking for a cleaning that leaves the bathrooms spotless; just a routine cleaning every now and then during the slow months.
One has to wonder if the planned Downtown Park in Lubbock will be better maintained.