WSU will have its first gender-neutral locker room and second gender-neutral bathroom, according to a design proposal given to the Board of Regents, when the building that once housed the old Bookie is remodeled in 2017 as the Chinook Student Center.

The $32 million Chinook project, approved by an undergraduate vote in spring 2015, will be jointly managed by the Compton Union Building (CUB) and University Recreation (UREC), said Sean Greene, Director of the Compton Union Building.

“Other universities and places across the country have tried this,” he said. “It’s been well received.”

The design models are inspired by locker rooms made available at the University of Oregon.

ASWSU President Kyle Geiger said accessibility to gender-neutral bathrooms and locker rooms has been an issue for a while, which resulted in a recent push by both students and student leaders to make them available to those who need them as soon as possible.

“The idea behind the gender-neutral bathrooms and locker rooms is to make that resource available to students who need it,” Geiger said.

The need for more gender-neutral bathrooms was a concern voiced during a political debate when Geiger was running for ASWSU vice president alongside former president Adam Crouch. Geiger said ASWSU got a lot of support on the subject from the Gender Identity/Expression and Sexual Orientation Resource Center (GIESORC) and the Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) at WSU.

Joanne Greene, director of programming for UREC, said the Student Recreation Center has a family changing room, which is basically a gender-neutral locker room, too. However, she said that isn’t enough.

The gender-neutral locker room at the Chinook Student Center will actually have more privacy than the separate men’s and women’s locker rooms, which will also be available.

“There will be a common area in the locker room, but the actual toilets and showers will be separated,” Greene said.

The gender-neutral locker room will be for anybody who would prefer it over the traditional separate locker rooms.

Additional services available to students in the remodeled old Bookie will include a recreational space with weights and cardio equipment, a lounge and a sauna, Greene said. There will also be food service, a conference room, an event space and a napping area.

The Chinook Student Center is scheduled to open spring semester of 2017, she said.