Going potty at City Hall
In a great piece of news for late-night bar hoppers, Mayor Tom Potter's office announced the 1st floor restrooms at City Hall will soon be open overnight.
It's one of the final steps toward enforcing the "Sit-Lie ordinance" that aims to keep the homeless off city sidewalks during the day. Also coming: 26 new benches. The Mercury has pics of those locations.
As for the overnight restrooms, starting August 2nd, you'll be able to relieve yourself inside City Hall from 11 pm until 7 am.
Full press release after the jump.
MAYOR POTTER OPENS CITY HALL RESTROOMS
AS PART OF SAFE INITIATIVE
Restrooms located on the first floor of City Hall will be open overnight as part of the Mayor's Street Access for Everyone (SAFE) Initiative to increase downtown livability.
The new hours, from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., are expected to be in place by August 2nd. Currently, City Hall restrooms are open to the public from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. The additional hours will increase the City's public restroom capacity during hours when no other public restrooms are available.
The SAFE Initiative was launched on May 24, 2006 to develop comprehensive and community-driven strategies to make Portland's streets open and accessible for all members of the community.
The initiative includes providing day shelters for the homeless during hours when most shelters providing services are closed; increasing the number of benches; opening public restrooms and enacting a sidewalk obstruction ordinance that prohibits sitting or lying on sidewalks in the downtown and Lloyd District during business hours.
The City Council voted last month to require 24-hour access to restrooms before the sidewalk obstruction ordinance could take effect.
The SAFE Oversight Committee - authorized by City Council to oversee implementation of the SAFE Initiative - voted unanimously on June 21st to make City Hall's restrooms the site of the 24-hour operation.
The cost of additional hours and security is more than $46,000 for a six-month trial period.
In addition to the City Hall public restrooms, there are eight Portland Parks & Recreation public restrooms that are currently open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.
Comments
I think the money would be better spent to purchase "stand alone" restrooms that are placed on the sidewalks. The type used in many European countries. Every time it's used it's automatically flushed out clean.
Posted by: Janice | July 13, 2007 2:43 PM
I think this bathroom will become a place for homeless to nap or "live" at night. I'm concerned about the safety of others, and wonder about the City's liability if someone does get hurt in the middle of the night. Are you paying for security?
Posted by: Rachael | July 13, 2007 3:04 PM
So much for the recent "security" enhancements to City Hall with the fancy turnstiles, and all. Rather than requiring City Employee Identification, or have official City Business to conduct in order to gain entry to City Hall, you must only state that you "need to use the restroom."
Posted by: Ben Smith | July 13, 2007 3:51 PM
Thank you Tom Potter!! It IS the humane thing to do. Some people do not realize how easily they could become homeless themselves. Not everyone has family and friends that can save them from financial misfortunes. Something as simple as a physical injury can lead to unemployment. Instead of dismissing the homeless as "less then human", Tom Potter is treating them in a humane manner and giving them access to bathroom facilties....something the rest of us take for granted and never have to worry about. Thank you for your compassion!!
Posted by: Sondra | July 13, 2007 8:46 PM
It is hypocritical to cite people for public urination and also not provide toilets. I think Potter is on the right track. The only thing I question is could we place more public stand alone toilets in areas closer to where the most homeless congregate for the same price?
Posted by: LD | July 14, 2007 8:14 AM