A new public restroom structure could be coming to Columbia. On Jan. 20, Columbia’s Parks and Recreation Department gave a report to the city council on the Portland Loo, an innovative bathroom created in Portland, Oregon, used to provide accessible public bathrooms in urban and rural cities.
Before it could be implemented, the city council would need to request for the staff to look at funding it in an upcoming fiscal year, which would be an 18-24 month process at its quickest.
The loo includes an exterior hand-wash station, graffiti-proof coating, motion sensor lights and optional solar roof panels as some of its features.
Gabe Huffington, director of Parks and Recreation for Columbia, said the infrastructure especially matches cities such as Columbia.
“It’s really designed to be in downtown locations, why we thought it would work and why we brought that report back down to council, is there’s over 250 of them placed all throughout the United States, and when you look at those environments, most of them are in downtown urban areas, and we fit that model,” he said.
Huffington said the Parks and Recreation department is always looking to prevent vandalism, one of the benefits of the Portland Loo.
“Every park that we design in the city of Columbia, vandalism is always a consideration,” Huffington said, “We periodically have vandalism, maybe graffiti that we will remove, could be a broken toilet. We have a pretty strict 24-hour response policy to vandalism.”
The restroom could cost Columbia about $340,000 for installation and utilities per unit. Caleb Larsen, sales associate for the Portland Loo, said the facility is an investment.
“Compared to your traditional restroom, you're going to incur a lot more ongoing costs and down time because a traditional restroom just can't handle the inevitable misuse of bathrooms that public restrooms are going to see,” Larsen said. “That is often a selling point for us, we can get you a bathroom that is quicker, more durable, and really going to last your city long-term.”
According to Portable Toilets Columbia’s website, portable toilets for construction cost between $200 to $350. While the Portland Loo is more expensive, Huffington said a permanent bathroom is more durable.
“Permanent toilets are cleaned more often by our staff, you don’t have that smell because you are hooked up to sanitary sewers so everything is flushed and taken away, and then we have access to clean water at all times for hand washing, whereas a portable toilet, you’re not going to have that opportunity,” Huffington said.
A traditional concrete restroom is estimated to cost $225,000. Of the 30 public park bathrooms in Columbia, only five are open during the winter months. Most bathrooms do not operate between October and March as freezing pipes make them difficult to maintain.
It is possible to allow the Portland Loo to operate in some winter months, but it would require covering open panels. Restrooms that do not operate in the winter are replaced by portable toilets, though Huffington said in the council meeting that people are less likely to use restrooms in the winter months anyways.
The outdoor restroom is also designed to be more accommodating to the people who have to clean and maintain the restroom, like a hose bib in the closet, which Larsen said isn’t usually the case for public restrooms.
“For people maintaining and cleaning the restroom, they love the simplicity of it,” he said.
Flat Branch Park and the new North Village Park are two sites under consideration for these loos. While the restroom has only just been introduced, it would be the first Portland Loo located in Missouri if implemented. Last year, New York City implemented five Portland Loos across the boroughs.
Another benefit of the restroom is to keep non-customers out of local businesses. Larsen said businesses in the area of Portland Loo facilities have noticed a positive difference, while community members are happy to be able to do their business elsewhere.
“A public restroom shouldn’t be something you have to pay for or scan to get into, it should be accessible to everybody and something that is going to last for your city,” Larsen said.
