Restrooms for Park Events and Festivals in Louisville

Planning for the busiest hour in a park

A park crowd arrives and leaves in waves, and the count is set for the busiest hour, which is often the middle of the afternoon when the shelters are full and the food is out.

A park event does not fill evenly. A youth tournament may draw most of its families in one hour, and a festival may peak when a stage act begins. The plan takes the expected number at the peak and sets a count that absorbs it without a long queue.

Metro guidance does not set a units-per-guest ratio for events, so none is stated here. The count is agreed with the organiser and written onto the plan with its basis.

Layout that keeps the lawn and the paths clear

Units belong at the edge of the active space, on firm ground off the play areas and the main path, so the lawn stays usable and the crowd reaches them without crossing it.

A row of units on the lawn's center cuts the event in two and wears the grass in a line. Placing them at the edge of the active space keeps the lawn usable, and a short side path takes the crowd from the event to each block.

The lighting for the evening is set on the same plan. A dark path to a unit is the most common complaint at a park event after dark.

• Units at the edge of the active space
• A short side path to each block
• Lighting for the evening hours
• Clear of play areas and shelter doors

Servicing through a day in a park

A park day needs a servicing visit before the crowd, a supervisor at the peak and a close-out, timed around the service road so the truck never crosses the lawn in use.

The first visit makes sure every unit is clean and stocked before the first guest arrives. The supervisor walks the blocks at the peak and calls for a pump-out where a block fills early, and the close-out visit clears the spot at the end of the day.

The truck uses the service road where there is one. Where there is none, the route is agreed with the park's own staff and the organiser, and the lawn is protected with boards if the truck must cross it.

Park closures and the Metro process

A park event that uses Metro property or two or more city services is part of the Metro process, and the restroom plan is attached so the office reads it with the closures and the event plan.

The handbook is clear that an application is needed in those cases, and the restroom plan is part of the same file. The office reads the closures against the layout, so the two have to be drawn to the same scale and dated to the same event.

Changes after filing are agreed with the Office of Special Events, and the drawing on the day is the one the office approved.

Peak hour in a shelter area

A shelter area fills at a tournament's start and empties at its finish, so the units nearest the shelters are sized and checked for those two moments rather than for the middle of the day.

Teams and families gather at the start, then disperse to the fields, then return at the end. The units by the shelters are the ones used at both ends of the day, and their stock is checked before each of those moments.

A supervisor times a visit to fall between the start and the first game, when the shelter crowd is at its lightest.

Youth events and the family crowd

A youth event brings families and small children, so the units are placed near the play areas' edge, with a clear walk and a handwash station close by.

Children and their families use the restroom in a different pattern from an adult crowd, with longer waits and more trips. The units are set on the edge of the play area, with a handwash station beside them and a route that a parent with a pushchair can use.

The supervisor watches the blocks at the busiest time for children's events, and the stock is checked more often.