ALTER STRUCTURE OVER LAVATORIES TO FLUSH OUT DEALERS

Its design near Carnegie Centre haven for drugs

Vancouver police want changes to the brick-and-concrete structure
sitting over underground lavatories in front of the Carnegie Centre at
Hastings and Main.

The existing building is viewed as a safe haven for drug dealers and
addicts.

On Friday, police spokeswoman Anne Drennan said a report that police
want to close the washrooms is untrue. However, police do want the
above-ground structure redesigned.

Drennan said the existing building allows drug dealers to peddle
narcotics out of view. A redesign can remove hiding places she said.

In July, a 10-day police blitz resulted in the arrest of 75 people
charged with dealing drugs outside the Carnegie Centre.

This followed closely on a similar crackdown that led to 65 dealers
being arrested in Pigeon Park.

Drennan said a claim by a coalition of neighbourhood interests that
staff at the Carnegie Centre want their corner of Hastings and Main to
be declared an arrest-free zone for dealers and addicts is false.

No such request has been made, Drennan said, and police will continue
to enforce drug laws and make arrests.