DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — Dayton City Commission will be looking at a unique way to bring public restrooms downtown at their next commission meeting.
Dayton officials will be looking to buy 2 Portland Loo restrooms for downtown Dayton, with a cost of $334,150 using Community Development Block Grant (CDBG-CV) CARES Act funding. The Portland Loo is a permanent structure that can flush and is designed to reduce prostitution and use of drugs.
Evan Madden, Owner and Sales Manager of Madden Fabrication, said, “We’re providing a restroom, we’re not able to serve all of the drug use and prostitution problem that comes with it. What we can do is just provide as much things to make it uncomfortable or hard to use as possible.”
Dayton City Commissioner Chris Shaw has seen a problem downtown with sanitary conditions that needs to be addressed and believes this may be the solution.
Chris Shaw, Dayton City Commissioner, said, “Clean up Courthouse Square. A lot of folks in the business community have been complaining about that for a number of years, but for residents and I’ve seen it myself, that there are some sanitary conditions that need to be addressed, and that’s what this is about.”
In a poll done by the American Restroom Association a majority of cities who responded were pleased with the product, and very few reported the restrooms being used for prostitution or drug use. The manufacturer said that location has everything to do with the bathroom being effective.
Madden said, “But people don’t spend time in it more than they really should, as if you kind of put it in the higher use area that it really keeps people moving along if they know they’re being watched or know someone’s outside waiting for them.”
The Dayton Planning and Community Development will have a presentation at Wednesday’s city commission meeting to discuss the Portland Loo at 8:30 am.
You can find the link to the poll done by the American Restroom Association here.
