men and women tie 334-334 in restroom fixtures @ Busch in 07

[mcgee51taguchi99]

Now that's a relief! Potty parity at Busch
By Elizabethe Holland
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/14/2007

Come opening day, Busch Stadium will have precisely as many places for women to relieve themselves as men, putting the stadium in compliance with a state potty parity law the stadium's architects didn't know existed last year.

The stadium's restrooms are now being renovated to get the stadium up to grade for the first game April 1, according to Cardinals president Mark Lamping.

The law, enacted in 1995, requires that sports stadiums and other large public venues have an equal number of water closets — or toilets — for women as there are toilets and urinals for men.

However, as the stadium neared completion last year, a Post-Dispatch article cited figures from HOK, the architectural firm that designed the ballpark, indicating the ballpark had 39 more bathroom fixtures for men than women in areas open to the public. A recalculation that HOK provided to the Cardinals in January listed the difference at 37.
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"We were surprised that the architects weren't aware of this state law," Lamping said Tuesday. "It's unfortunate that we weren't in compliance."

By opening day, though, the number of fixtures for women will have increased to 334 from 310, Lamping said.

The number of fixtures for men, meanwhile, will have decreased — to 334 from 347, he said.

To achieve parity, the Cardinals are giving Solomonesque treatment to a main concourse men's room by dividing it into men's and women's restrooms; expanding a women's restroom on the mezzanine level and another on the loge level; and expanding a men's room on the loge level.

"We'll be in full potty parity per state law as of opening day," Lamping said.

"We're also happy that we think we have a better balance of restrooms based on what we observed last year. … We knew we needed to add more women's restrooms."
TALK OF THE DAY
Is potty ‘parity’ enough in public places?


Irene Treppler, the former state legislator who wrote the potty parity law despite much ridicule, said she was pleased to learn of the renovations.

"That's good news," said Treppler, of south St. Louis County. "I'm glad that they're changing it. It's important because it's not fair for women to have to wait in line so much longer. They should have equal facilities with the men."

Asked about the disparity last spring, Mayor Francis Slay's office faulted the Legislature for not making clear in the law who is responsible for enforcing it.

Officials with the St. Louis Building Division said they did not know there was such a law in Missouri and that the city enforced locally adopted building codes — in the stadium's case, the since-booted 1987 National Standard Plumbing Code.

Figures provided last year by the city and HOK suggested the stadium well-exceeded the number of toilets and urinals required by the plumbing code. But ultimately, the state law prompted the Cardinals to aim for potty parity.

In May, the Missouri Legislature gave the Cardinals an extension to address the issue. The Cardinals studied bathroom traffic last season in determining what changes to make.

Potty parity laws have been encouraged nationwide in recent years in hopes of shortening long lines at women's restrooms or at least making them more comparable to typically shorter lines outside men's rooms.

Illinois is among those with such a law. Its Equitable Restrooms Act requires that the number of fixtures for men and women be calculated based on a venue's maximum occupancy.

Some places, such as New York City, require twice as many places for women to relieve themselves in stadiums, theaters and other venues. Such edicts are based on studies that have shown that women, because they have different needs, spend twice as much time in restrooms as men.

[cardinalkarp]

Problem is that I would think that more men go to games than women.

[heyzeus]

I would have rather seen them add the additional number of women's stalls rather than decrease men's facilities. But I guess it would have cost too much to build all new women's rooms.

[Cronos]

Problem is that I would think that more men go to games than women.

I remember reading a figure a year or so ago(measured by ticket sales, I think) that said that the St. Louis Cardinals fan base is unique from other teams in that it actually had more women than men, 51% women and 49% men.

That being said, though I'm no architect, shouldn't there be more bathrooms for women than men? I mean, there are always these huge, long lines extending far out the door for women's restrooms at public events and hardly any lines at all for men's restrooms.

[cardinalkarp]

Problem is that I would think that more men go to games than women.

I remember reading a figure a year or so ago(measured by ticket sales, I think) that said that the St. Louis Cardinals fan base is unique from other teams in that it actually had more women than men, 51% women and 49% men.

That being said, though I'm no architect, shouldn't there be more bathrooms for women than men? I mean, there are always these huge, long lines extending far out the door for women's restrooms at public events and hardly any lines at all for men's restrooms.

Have you been to the new Busch?? The mens lines in alot of cases are longer than the womens.