A new café and toilets are set to open in a city park before the end of summer. The MacLaren Pavilion, a 1920s building near the water feature at The Level, Brighton , will be converted into a new kiosk café with three separate gender-neutral toilets and a disabled access toilet. At the moment, the building is largely vacant throughout the year, apart from when a community group uses it for meetings.
Fencing will be going up around the building shortly but people will still be able to access the playground and fountain area while the work is being done. Brighton and Hove City Council said it is in the early stages of finding a new tenant for the café. They will be responsible for maintaining the new toilets in return for a reduced rent.
The park’s Velo Café and toilets were forced to shut in 2022 due to vandalism, antisocial behaviour and issues with the building. READ MORE: Park toilets get attendant AND security guard after antisocial behaviour concerns Plans for the refurbishment said: “All doors and access routes to the toilets will open to the front of the building at a main point, which, along with the new café location, is aimed to concentrate footfall into a single area thus encouraging natural surveillance and therefore, it is hoped, reduce vandalism and antisocial behaviour.” Work is set to begin next month and is due to take around three months.
Approved by the city environment, South Downs and the sea committee last November, the work will “breat.
