PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — It’s a place to go when you gotta go.
In three weeks, the first modular restroom, the Portland Loo, will be installed at 15th and Arch streets in Center City, an area dense with passersby where temporary porta potties have been available to the public since 2021. People will be able to use it between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
It is ADA-accessible and has stainless steel wall panels that have a graffiti-proof coating, making them easy to clean. Mary Horstman, Philadelphia’s deputy managing director for Human Services, said, in addition to being easy to clean, it has an open top and bottom to address the crime aspect of public restrooms.
“If you see the way that the restroom is designed, you can see if someone is sitting on the ground and we’ll be able to have staff that is part of our harm reduction team to go out there to provide services to individuals who might need it.”
The city proposed installing these public restrooms in August 2022 as a way to provide a permanent bathroom option that’s “more attractive to a broad group of people – including families, tourists, businesses and underserved individuals,” they said.
Portland Loo’s have already been installed in 20 other cities, including Hoboken. They expect at least five more pilot toilets, each costing $180,000, to be installed throughout Philly.
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