The basement of the Dominion City School had four large rooms. Until 1956 students from Grades 1 to 3 were in the building so two of the rooms were playrooms, one for boys and one for girls. In my time in that building the playrooms were empty, but led to the vile smelling toilet facilities for boys and girls. The central room, shown here, is where students and teachers could wash their hands. From left to right we have a post with a paper towel dispenser, a tank with a drinking fountain attachment at the bottom, a barrel for depositing used paper towels, a trough with basins and a pitcher for washing hands. The pitcher could be filled filled from a lift pump (not shown) that pumped ice cold water from a cistern under the floor. The object at the right looks like a stove of some kind which was not used in my time. Behind the tank for the drinking fountain is a door which led to the fourth room which was the furnace room. The building was poorly insulated so great quantities of coal were burned. My Grade 12 class spent the Christmas to Easter term having our classes in the library because the classroom we would have otherwise been in was too cold.