Last week I wrote about a city crackdown on communal bathrooms in day-care centers. Someone’s nervous about 4-year-old boys and girls seeing each other answering the call. I’ve since obtained a letter which makes it clear it’s the state who’s the big prude. Writes Dean Thady, chief plumbing inspector for the Illinois Dept. of Public Health to Harold Olin, Chicago’s director of code review:
“This Department has never accepted unisex restrooms for public use with multiple plumbing fixtures in the restroom. We have always and do now require a day-care center to have separate male and female restrooms for all of the students…This letter is only to apprise you of minimum Plumbing Code rules and request that you strive to obtain the same within the City of Chicago.”
Olin, who’s trying to accomodate day-care operators who are hyperventilating over stricter enforcement, says, “It appears that state law governs. Meanwhile, Daniel Alvarez, city commissioner of human services, envisions a plot. “I think interest in this subject is coming from construction companies. Who has the most to gain from forcing centers to make costly renovations?”
