USPS Publication Number 16300
THE
SUMMATIONWeeklyy
This Community Newspaper is a publication of the Escambia-Santa Rosa Bar Association
S E RV I N G T H E F I RS T J U D I C I A L C I RC U I T Vol. 24, No. 11
March 13, 2024
SummationWeekly.com
1 Section, 12 Pages
Section A, Page 1
PUBLIC RESTROOMS COMING TO THREE
PENSACOLA PARKS THIS SPRING By Morgan Cole
P
ensacola is finally looking to bring public bathroom options downtown with a modular public toilet design c a l l e d T h e P o r t l a n d L o o. In January, Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves announced that the city will be installing three modular public restrooms at Pensacola parks this spring. Reeves said the longawaited public restrooms shipped to the city on February 21, and the city plans to install them as soon as they arrive. The trio of semi-permanent facilities were designed for the city
of Portland, Oregon, with graffitiproof walls and open grating to provide restrooms for the public without the crime and other problems of regular public restrooms. The stand-alone restrooms feature an open-air design with a grating along the top and bottom that allows law enforcement to tell how many people are inside, while still providing privacy to the user. The stainless steel walls in each unit are protected by an antigraffiti clear coat and can easily be cleaned with a cleaning hose and janitorial supplies, which are stored in a locked mechanical closet on the unit itself.
Unlike porta-potties, the units will be installed on a permanent concrete pad and are connected to public sewage with fully functional toilets. Each unit also comes equipped with a handwashing station on the exterior wall. Reeves said if shipping times are reasonable and everything goes smoothly with the installation, the first Portland Loo could be open by the end of March. The Portland Loo in MLK Plaza will be controlled by the Downtown Improvement Board under a funding agreement with the city where the Downtown Improvement Board (DIB) is paying for half of the installation cost. “Our plan right now is to put one at MLK Plaza,” Reeves explained. “As we discussed with DIB. Before my administration, there was agreement between them and the (city) council about getting some bathrooms there. We have moved
from a brick and mortar (facility) to a Portland Loo. So we’ll put one at MLK right there at Gregory (Street).” A second unit will be installed at the skate park on North Hayne Street and the third will find a home at Bruce Beach. This is because the city is looking into opening the completed portions of the new park at Bruce Beach before the total project is complete. “It’s looking like right now, and again, this is not final, that we could have a phase one (at Bruce Beach) open at some point in March,” Reeves said. “Whereas the phase two would not be done until October. So, I felt like that was enough time to create some value for the citizens to let them use the playground, the pedestrian bridge and all that.” In total, the city purchased five Portland Loos, but delivery of the final two is on hold while the city works to finalize some partners for the project.
“I’m looking at partnering with DIB and the University of West Florida about putting one perhaps at Museum Plaza, right there behind the museum in partnership with UWF,” Reeves said. “We had a great conversation with them, working on some final details there. And then the fifth one, at this point, would probably be a second restroom at Bruce Beach.” DIB Executive Director Walker Wilson said the DIB would work with the city to decide on operating hours. According to Reeves, the city had previously evaluated many options for public restroom facilities, includingstand-alone buildings, before settling on the prefabricated restroom design. “The value of these is that they’re modular. So, if we see a greater need for one somewhere else, then we’ll plan for that and if we need to adjust, this allows us to do it, as opposed to a brick-and-mortar structure,” Reeves said.
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