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U of U hopes plan to add fixtures will relieve issues with long lines at men’s restrooms

Posted at 10:08 PM, Mar 22, 2015
and last updated 2015-03-23 00:08:18-04

SALT LAKE CITY – Fans who attend games at the University of Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium can soon let loose with a sigh of relief when it comes to worries about the long line to use the men's restroom on game day.

After listening to concerns from fans, the stadium is adding more than 100 bathroom fixtures to the men’s restrooms at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Mark Burk, director of stadium and arena event services, said fans have expressed concerns for years but that by the first game of next season fans could expect the line up at men’s rooms to be about half of what it once was.

“We finally are able to secure enough funding to essentially double the men’s fixtures on the west concourse, and double the men's fixtures on the east concourse,” he said.

More than 100 bathroom fixtures will be added to the northeast and northwest corners of Rice-Eccles Stadium, adding more than 5,000 square feet of new restroom space and 7,000 square feet of walking space.

“What we’re hoping is that we can move the congested lines off the east and west concourse, more towards the northeast and northwest,” Burk said.

Last September, the university doubled the amount of drinking fountains at the stadium. For a stadium that seats more than 46,000 fans, these improvements may seem rather small--but the U hopes they're solving problems by addressing fan's immediate needs.

“We don’t necessarily have a large expansion on the docket right now, what we are after is addressing some immediate needs,” Burk said.

The $3.3 million upgrade is only expanding space in the men’s restrooms, because the lines for the women’s facilities aren’t as lengthy.

“We are not experiencing the same amount of wait time in women's restrooms as men,” Burk said.

Burk said that’s in part because the women's restrooms already have additional stalls, from the previous expansion completed before the winter Olympics in 2002.

The university said they are always looking for feedback from fans on how they can continue to improve the stadium experience.