After years of temporary solutions and going without, Bangor is planning to put a single-stall public bathroom downtown — along with five more in city parks — giving residents and visitors more places to relieve themselves at any time of day.
Hayford Park, Chapin Park, Coe Park, Fairmount Park and Broadway Park will each get a bathroom, as well as another downtown on Broad Street, according to Tracy Willette, Bangor’s parks and recreation director. They will be open all day, every day, unlike the city’s existing public bathrooms, which are all located in public buildings that have set business hours.
Bangor city councilors approved purchasing the new units using pandemic relief funding on Wednesday during a meeting of the council’s Government Operations Committee. Councilors will likely formally approve funding for the restrooms in their meeting next week.
For years, the lack of such facilities has forced residents, visitors and especially the city’s homeless community to ask local businesses to use their restrooms or relieve themselves in public spaces. City officials hope the new additions will fill the need for more accessible and clean bathrooms that are always open.
“I remember two years ago when I was on the council we started this discussion, so I’m so excited we have something tangible tonight,” Councilor Dina Yacoubagha said during Wednesday’s meeting.
The new units, which are identical to those installed around Portland, are made out of steel, which makes them more durable and resistant to vandalism. They’re also open at the bottom to allow for easier monitoring, ventilation and cleaning.
The move to add more public bathrooms comes years after Bangor attempted to provide portable options downtown, but those were removed after heavy vandalism and misuse that made them difficult and dangerous for contractors to service them, Willette said.
Councilor Gretchen Shaefer said she hopes placing the structures near streets and giving them open bottoms will dissuade residents from misusing them.
The units won’t have plumbing, meaning they’ll function like a typical portable toilet, though a tank could be installed under the structure. Each will measure roughly 9-by-15-feet, sit on a concrete slab and comply with the American with Disabilities Act.
The city aims to have the bathrooms in place before the summer, Willette said.
Each single restroom costs about $30,000 to manufacture and install, plus an additional $1,200 annual maintenance fee, according to Willette. In total, city councilors set aside $221,700 in pandemic relief funds to pay to install and service the units.
The cost of the bathrooms will take a small chunk of the roughly $3.8 million in pandemic relief funds Bangor has left to spend by the end of the year.
Public buildings have long been the only option for those who need to use the bathroom downtown without wanting to purchase something. Those options include the Bangor Area Transit Center, Bangor City Hall, Bangor Public Library or the Harbormaster Building on the waterfront, all of which close at night.
Some places in Bangor, like Cascade Park and City Forest, however, have portable or pit toilets.
After the units are installed, the city will evaluate how often they need to be serviced by a contractor and whether the existing number of facilities meets the need.
The city also hopes to eventually commission local artists to decorate the stalls, similar to what Portland did with their units.
