The Snyderville Basin Special Recreation District is working on a redesign for the Fieldhouse’s locker rooms to bring the facility into compliance with a new state law.“The general purpose of the project is to redesign the Fieldhouse locker rooms in a way that is a little bit more inclusive,” explained district Superintendent Matt Wagoner during a board meeting last week. “We have a multi-purpose goal of increasing privacy, accessibility, and then a portion of that, as we’ve discussed before, is compliance with the H.B. 257 state legislation.”H.B. 257 aims to increase privacy in restrooms by creating more unisex facilities and restricting access to male- and female-designated bathrooms. The bill was widely criticized by LGBTQ+ rights activists during the last legislative session for preventing transgender people from using bathrooms consistent with their gender identity.The bill’s sponsors, however, maintained it’s meant to bolster laws against voyeurism and lewdness.According to Wagoner, the Fieldhouse currently has gender-neutral bathrooms, but there is no gender-neutral access to the pool, as visitors are required to walk through a designated male or female locker room to reach the area.The redesign is still in its early stages, so there are no preliminary plans as of now, but Wagoner emphasized that his goals are privacy and accessibility and that compliance with H.B. 257 is only a tertiary factor.“We’re confident that we can accomplish this goal of meeting compliance with the legislation and also just updating and improving locker rooms overall,” he said.The Basin Recreation board overwhelmingly supported the proposed gender-neutral pool access, with board member Ryan Bruce pointing out it would be helpful for families with children of different genders taking swim lessons. Under H.B. 257, a male parent cannot bring his female child into the male locker room, but he also is not allowed to enter the female locker room.“All right, you’re 6, 5, 4 [years old]. Go ahead and just walk through that other room and please come out the other side,” Bruce said as an example. “From that standpoint, too, I think this is a really critical project.”Board Chair Brandi Connolly agreed, adding that there could be a similar situation for people with disabilities who might need assistance but have a caretaker of the opposite sex.“Thank you for doing this, not only from the family aspect [but] from the people with disabled relatives to people who are transgender,” Connolly said. “Everybody deserves a place to be able to go to the bathroom and change their clothes and feel comfortable.”The board unanimously voted to approve an agreement with AJC Architects to redesign the Fieldhouse’s locker rooms and pool access, with a stipulation that the costs should not exceed $65,600.The post Basin Recreation in early stages of locker room redesign to comply with new gender law appeared first on Park Record.