Rather than flushing money down the toilet, Columbus City Council is spending over $2 million in federal funds on three steel public restrooms in downtown Columbus.
Council earmarked $875,000 from the CARES Act in 2021 to add five stainless steel Portland Loo restrooms downtown. Council voted Monday to earmark an additional $800,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act for the project for only three.
The total project cost is now $2,068,149. That is double the original cost of the project proposed in 2021 for two less toilets.
Columbus is working with Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District to install the three new restrooms by the Fall using only federal funds from the two COVID-19 relief packages.
Capital Crossroads Program Coordinator Mark Klingler said unexpected costs to design and engineer the restrooms and inflation raised the price, while property owners pushing back on them and other difficulties finding appropriate locations reduced their total number in the last two years.
"I expect once they're in place, their value will be very quickly recognized, and there will be a demand for other restrooms downtown and in other places in the city," Klingler said.
A Portland Loo restroom is a stainless steel, prefabricated bathroom that is typically set up on street corners. The restrooms are single-occupancy and gender-neutral with one toilet inside and a wash station on the outside of the structure.
The city of Portland, Oregon created these restrooms and other cities have adopted them.
Klingler said the goal is to place the restrooms in high traffic areas and be easily accessible. The three restrooms in Columbus will go at the intersections of Long & High streets, West Lynn & High streets and Broad & Third streets.
Klingler said installing these public restrooms in the downtown area will assist both visitors and homeless people.
"I think we've all had the experience of being in a public place and having the need for a restroom and having a lot of difficulty finding it. And that's because public restrooms have just been on decline. They've been closing over the past several decades," he said.
Klingler said some people are able to find a nearby public library or find a restaurant that allows the public to use their restrooms, but many restaurants don't allow that.
Homeless people often have to resort to a desperate search sometimes and have to relieve themselves on sidewalks, in alleyways or in bushes, which is not sanitary and illegal.
Klingler said he expects the city will try and clean these restrooms several times a day.
"I think what's become evident to us is that in a modern city that is paying attention to the needs of its of its residents, you have to have facilities that are accommodating and welcoming and public restrooms are key among those facilities," Klingler said.
He said he thinks once people see the impact of these three restrooms, there may be calls to install more in downtown and elsewhere in the city.
