Three locations for public toilets identified in the city center – NEOtrans

An example of what a public restroom for downtown Cleveland could look like. Four of these are proposed for three downtown locations (City of Cleveland). Click on the images to enlarge them.

The Planning Commission will review sites this week

Public restrooms are exactly what many citizens and business people in downtown Cleveland need. But where they should be was a difficult question to answer. That's one reason it took three years to bring three proposed locations for four of these public restrooms to the City Planning Commission's Design Review Committee for consideration this Friday.

Although public toilets are often associated with maintaining human dignity for homeless people, the need for these facilities can affect anyone. Not only do they help keep the city center cleaner, but in the city core, where many people walk, bike and use public transportation, public toilets make traveling miles easier for those who don't have access to a car to follow nature.

Therefore, Cuyahoga County and the City of Cleveland will install and maintain these bathrooms. The county will install one at the corner of Payne Avenue and East 17th Street in front of the Virgil E. Brown Neighborhood Family Services Center. This facility will be closest to the growing men's and women's homeless shelters on Payne and Lakeside avenues, as well as nearby homeless encampments.

The city will install another at Perk Plaza on East 12th Street between Chester Avenue and Walnut Avenue. Although the exact location of the public toilet in the park is not specified Presentation materials presented to the members of the planning commission yesterday.

Interior of The Portland Loo – a modular brand of handicapped accessible public restrooms in use in 20 US cities (City of Cleveland).

Two additional public restrooms will be constructed in the new Canal Basin Park on the Flats East Bank, between and below the Detroit-Superior Bridge and the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority Viaduct. The plans for the new park are becoming more and more concrete, but a date for the start of construction of the park has not yet been announced.

The opening hours of the public toilets should be from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. in summer (April 15th – October 15th) and from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. in winter (October 15th – April 15th). Under a proposed schedule, facilities would be cleaned three times a day Monday through Saturday and twice a day on Sundays. The county will clean its own toilet, while the city would “work with partners” to clean it.

Locations were selected based on need, safety, available utilities and long-term maintenance factors. The facilities will be placed in a highly visible, well-lit and populated area that will accommodate a variety of residents with diverse needs.

To avoid increasing installation costs, toilets are installed near water and sewer pipes. And the locations were chosen because there is a partner in the area willing to take on the long-term maintenance of the public toilet.

Two public restrooms are proposed at Canal Basin Park. Plans for this are becoming more and more detailed, but no construction work has been announced for the park. This location was selected because it is at the north end of the Towpath Trail and close to homeless services across the Cuyahoga River in St. Malachi (City of Cleveland).

“Our ability to respond to a universal biological need is a basic human right,” Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration noted in its presentation to the Planning Commission. “Everyone deserves to have access to a toilet, no questions asked or purchased.”

Mark Lammon is executive director of Campus District Inc., serving the east side of downtown, home to Cleveland's largest homeless shelter and several growing homeless encampments. He said he was grateful that his nonprofit development corporation received an award $650,816 grant from the Cleveland Foundation in 2021 to support the launch of the project. The project is also supported by Downtown Cleveland Inc. and Ohio City Inc.

“As a community, we have been discussing public restrooms for a long time,” Lammon said. “During COVID, we tested Porta-Johns at various locations and had no issues. It is time to provide adequate facilities for the dignity of all people in our city.”

The grant was awarded “to support the installation, fees and maintenance of a network of high-quality permanent public restrooms throughout downtown and Ohio City for use by the homeless and the general public.” Financing was provided by the foundation Greater Cleveland COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund Of this, $19 million was supported by many donors.

The most concrete plans for a public restroom have been submitted for the southeast corner of the Virgil E. Brown Neighborhood Family Services Center at Payne Avenue and East 17th Street, east of downtown Cleveland in the Campus District (Cuyahoga County).

Officials chose Cleveland's facilities, The Portland Loo – a public restroom used nationally and internationally that focuses on access, safety and longevity. It is a free-standing, gender-neutral, disabled-accessible public toilet facility.

It got its name because it was designed in Portland, Oregon, in response to increasing homelessness in the wake of the 2008 recession. The facility is designed to blend seamlessly into its surroundings, Cleveland city officials said.

They also said it was easy to maintain, energy efficient and adaptable to cold weather. Costs less to maintain than a port-a-potty and can withstand a daily volume of use comparable to airport restrooms. The Portland Loo currently operates at more than 90 locations in 20 cities across the United States.

Unlike the county site, the proposed Perk Plaza site on East 12th Street between Chester Avenue and Walnut Avenue is the least concrete plan for a public restroom. Several corners of the park were shown as possible locations in a city presentation, including this one originally planned for construction of an information/vendor kiosk (City of Cleveland).

The Portland Loos are made of stainless steel with an anti-graffiti surface. Their open bottom and top allow for the transmission of sight lines and sounds outside the toilets while maintaining privacy. They also feature an outdoor handwashing station, built-in hose and cleaning cabinet and can be operated year-round.

Portland loos cost about $175,000 each or $700,000 for four; The remaining capital, operating and maintenance costs will be funded by the city, county and the three affected development companies. But the complicated excavation and installation of a similar public toilet in downtown Columbus pushed the cost to $700,000 each, more than usual costs a two bedroom condo in downtown Cleveland.

Columbus also discovered that the advertised “all-season” functionality wasn’t entirely true. The toilet bowls were iced over in severe cold, even though the devices were purchased with a “winter package”. But Columbus officials said other cities with cold climates don't have this problem. A solution has been developed that involves improving the water heating system to maintain the circulation of warm water through the toilet to prevent freezing.

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