It’s not unusual for people to get lost going between the various courthouses in Wichita. For years, people going to the Sedgwick County Courthouse looking for the city’s municipal court have been directed by a sign to the “black building across the street” — City Hall.
People apparently also are having trouble finding their way to the right restroom in Wichita’s century-old Historic Courthouse, home to the elections commission and the state probation and parole offices, among others.
“The men’s bathroom is located outside of the double glass doors,” County Commissioner Gwen Welshimer said in e-mail to County Manager Bill Buchanan. “There is a sign on it, but it is not visible from inside the hallway. Men, on almost a daily basis I am told, use the women’s bathroom.”
Welshimer said just last week a female employee at the old courthouse walked into the women’s bathroom and found a man standing there, exposed. Charlene Stevens, assistant county manager who oversees facilities, said no reports have been made by employees to the Facilities Maintenance or Security departments. But Stevens doesn’t doubt it happened.
Old hallways in 1888 building mean the facilities are not “public friendly,” Stevens said. Temporary, and more obvious, signs have been put up and will be checked daily, Stevens said, until new signs arrive. The permanent signs are on order.