Toilet Facility Types



PHLUSH believes a Storefront Rest Stop is a practical, locally grown solution to providing access to public toilets. In addition to a restroom, it would have seating, a telephone, Internet access, and a bulletin board with information about services and retail businesses in the neighborhood. An attendant, whether a paid employee or a trained volunteer could supervise and help recover costs through the sale of cold drinks, books, maps and postcards.
This model appears appropriate for historic districts such as Portland’s Old Town Chinatown, which from the 1880s has been the district where people sought and found sanitary facilities. The Merchant Hotel, for example, housed a Japanese laundry, with toilets and public showers nearby. Today visitors to Old Town Chinatown still need to tidy up for meetings or job interviews, change a baby’s or toddler’s diaper, make phone calls, or leave their bags for a short time.
Lessons can be learned from Seattle’s successful Urban Rest Stop. Funded by the city’s Department of Housing and Urban Development and private businesses, churches and individuals, the rest stop offers a range of services free of charge to low income travelers and homeless people: toilets, showers, laundry and personal hygiene supplies. While such a facility is not a substitute for full day shelters, they can address key hygiene needs at lower cost. The Urban Rest Stop is at 1924 9th Avenue (between Stewart and Virginia), Seattle, WA 98101 206.332-0110
In Portland, the concept of a Storefront Rest Stop has historic roots that can be updated to meet the needs of a contemporary clientele. As envisioned by PHLUSH, it would primarily be a public restroom and would serve a much broader clientele: tourists, school children on outings, office workers, delivery people, construction workers, residents, and individuals who are in the neighborhood to access social services. The community bulletin board would be a positive attractor. Just as Automatic Public Toilets impose a time limit per use, the Storefront Rest Stop could request visitors to limit their visits to 20 or 30 minutes.
Case Study: Our Peaceful Place Personal dignity is validated when someone is welcomed to use a bathroom. When “Our Peaceful Place” moved, the Board of Directors agreed that a public bathroom would be one of the criteria used for deciding on a new site. When we settled into our new location, we suspected that because there are few public bathrooms in Old Town Chinatown and because most of our guests are homeless, the bathroom would be well used. There was a steady stream of people using the facilities and occasionally two or three people waiting but typically this occurred only when we first opened in the morning, as we were preparing to close in the evening or in between videos on the days we showed movies. We kept the bathroom locked and staff had bathroom keys on lanyards. We monitored the bathroom between uses to ensure cleanliness and to keep adequate toilet paper stocked. We did a quick cleaning of the bathroom several times a day and did a thorough cleaning every night after closing.The bathroom was in close proximity to our service counter so we were able to keep an eye on the traffic. We had a sign posted asking folks to keep their bathroom visits as brief as possible and only allowed them to enter one at a time unless there was a child. If it seemed someone was in the bathroom for an extended period of time a staff member would gently knock on the door and courteously ask if help was required. This would remind guests that others were waiting. On one occasion after stating we were going to do so, we used the key to enter and give assistance. Our experience with a public use bathroom was a positive one. The fact that we had one was well appreciated by our clientele and it gave us great satisfaction to know we were providing such a great service. The cost to us included paper products and a higher water bill, but the payoff was well worth the expense. Barb Lescher, Our Peaceful Place Executive Director, Jan 2006 |
Good examples are found along Portland’s Eastbank Esplanade, an important riverfront corridor for cyclists, walkers, and joggers. Near the Steel Bridge and under the Hawthorne Bridge green plastic single stall portable sanitation units are enclosed in steel cages. Cage doors can be locked open or closed. The grillwork of the cages is bare but could be landscaped with attractive flowering vines. These practical, inexpensive facilities include ADA-compliant portable units. All are owned and serviced by the firm Honey Bucket.




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