Renovation gives women a break

Women who attend events at the Spokane Opera House will cheer at this news.

The Spokane Public Facilities District plans to close the Opera House in July and August to renovate the restrooms on all four levels. The primary change will expand the area of the women’s restrooms, by swapping it with the space used for the men’s restrooms, which currently are bigger.

In addition, family restrooms will be added on all four levels, said PFD Executive Director Kevin Twohig.

The changes are part of $4 million worth of improvements to the Opera House the district hopes to complete by the end of the year. The money will come from an existing fund for capital improvements, Twohig said.

The largest chunk of money — $2 million — will be spent to replace the cooling system for the Opera House, which is currently connected to the Convention Center’s system. That means when one is fired up, the other is too, regardless of whether events are taking place in both buildings. In addition to replacing outdated equipment, the work will separate the systems.

“We’re looking for a great deal more energy efficiency for sure,” Twohig said.

The PFD also plans to replace all the trees along the south side of the Opera House and Convention Center with “pocket parks,” Twohig said. The small parks will include benches, drinking fountains, trees, shrubs and grassy space.

Lastly, the Opera House’s marquee will be replaced with a new LED display that could be higher in the air and span the entire stretch of the vehicle drop-off lanes, Twohig said.