photo by: City of Lawrence

A portable trailer that provides restrooms and showers is pictured when at place at Woody Park, 201 Maine St. in this 2021 file photo.

The City of Lawrence will soon install a bathroom and shower trailer it previously purchased with federal pandemic aid at the North Lawrence campsite for people experiencing homelessness.

The city will install the trailer by the end of this week, according to a city news release. The release states that the trailer provides an additional resource that will be needed during the interim period from March 12 until June, after the Winter Emergency Shelter located in the Community Building in downtown Lawrence closes for the season and when the city plans to open a modular home village and longer-term campsite at a not-yet-determined location.

The release states that the climate-controlled bathroom and shower trailer will make it easier for those staying at the North Lawrence site to access needed hygiene resources. The release cites multiple factors for why the trailer was not installed earlier.

“When the site in North Lawrence was initially constructed, the City had several concerns that delayed the installation of a bathroom and shower trailer, including freezing water lines and a lack of staff to support the added facility,” the release states. “With the changing weather and increased staff at the site, the City now has sufficient supports in place to operate the trailer.”

The city previously announced that it planned to provide 24/7 staffing at the site, and the release states the city is “very nearly” at its goal to provide that level of staffing. The release notes the city always planned for the North Lawrence site to be temporary, and that once the new modular home site is open, the city will only provide support, including bathroom and shower trailers, at that location, with those people currently at the temporary support site given the first opportunity to move to one of the new “Pallet cabins” at the modular home site.

The release states that members of the city’s Planning & Development Services Department have been closely involved in planning at the North Lawrence site throughout this process, and the team is aware that both the new bathroom and shower trailer and the additional administrative and donation storage trailer recently added to the site are in violation of current city code; however, both are being overlooked in the interest of public health and welfare and due to the temporary nature of the added facilities. The city will not be seeking a building permit for the bathroom and shower trailer but will ensure all facilities meet safety requirements.

The site in North Lawrence continues to be a temporary solution for emergency shelter until the modular home site is operational. The city is also working with partners at the Lawrence Community Shelter to increase its overnight shelter capacity once the Winter Emergency Shelter closes.

As the Journal-World has previously reported, the city did not previously provide the bathroom trailers at the site in North Lawrence.