The ‘Portland Loo,’ named after its birth city, is designed to withstand year-round weather and resist vandalism.
New York City is going ahead with a plan to install modular public bathrooms in a park in each of the city’s boroughs as part of a pilot program, writes Clio Chang in Curbed. The city will use a product dubbed the Portland Loo already in use in Portland, Seattle, and Boston.
The bathrooms, which will include changing tables, are made of steel and look a bit like newspaper stands. They’re ruthlessly functional and built with metal slats meant to deter any activity other than relieving oneself. While the Portland Loos cost $185,000 each, the Parks Department has budgeted up to $5.3 million for the project to account for construction costs — like connecting them to electric and water lines.
The exact locations are still to be determined, but the project will be a welcome addition to America’s woefully inadequate public bathroom network.
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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research