The new permanent toilet at Ballard Commons Park is almost ready for business.
The pricey Portland Loo cost the city $550,000, and has been in the works for awhile now — it was backordered earlier this summer, which delayed its installation.
The loo is being installed because a public restroom is required within 100 feet of a water feature — in this case, the spray park.
The loo is designed to be graffiti-resistant, has angled slats that make it partially open-air, which is meant to discourage drug use. It has solar-powered lights, and an outdoor hand wash station.
The loo should be open by the end of September, according to Seattle Parks.
Well it looks nice, and I’m sure I’ll use it at some point, but I can’t imagine it was worth 8 years of a 70k salary. Since it will likely get frequent “use”, unless it receives quite a bit of continual maintenance, it could end up being closed more often than it is open.
Construction isn’t cheap. This involved cutting through and replacing thick concrete for both the restroom and the utilities. The utility connections themselves are also not cheap.
I deal with construction as part of my job and $500k is not unreasonable for a brand new restroom.
“ready for business.”
LOL
The Ballard Commons sh*tshow just got a throne.
How long until they tear it out like they did with the $5 million dollar ones they put out in Victor Steinbrueck Park, that turned into brothels and drug havens?
As long as the city names it the “Mike O’Brien Commemorative Toilet” I’m fine with it.
Mike-O-Loo?
And you fully realize he would fully embrace that honor as an honor. He’s on the record as saying that bathrooms are a human right. That Mike O’Brien Bathroom is his version of the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
The homeless will love their new shooting gallery and nappy home !
Someone got lots of lobbyist money for this restroom !
Who’s going to keep the homeless druggies from trashing it like they always do !
Opps……more problems and a waste of money and you will never get the sweet opportunity to use it cause some St.lukes children of despair will be smoking meth and having sex …you know same MO that I hear is going on !
Yes, the opinions of someone who has never even set foot in the state of Washington are certainly valuable.
Does the removal countdown clock start now, or at the official opening?
The city will be placing on their surplus property list mid-2020. Maybe Mike O’Brien can pick it up on the cheap and install it in HIS front yard!
its sad when the expectation to a public bathroom is that it will be a bum/junkie/drug den – and that its likely correct.
So you’d rather park patrons not have a restroom option? You’d rather the homeless be forced to use the library, local businesses or the streets to go to the bathroom?
All because a public restroom makes you uncomfortable?
I hope you never have to experience rock bottom.
no normal person will use this toilet, nice try.
as far as the vagrants, there is already the cutely named “urban rest stop” – also, if you think this will stop the vagrants from crapping and pissing all over the place, you are very wrong.
Just like yours and “Safe” Seattle’s false claim that no normal people visit Ballard Commons?
Just like how myself and plenty of normal people will continue to visit Ballard Commons, myself and plenty of normal people will use the bathroom.
But hey, you’re clearly some oracle that can predict the future, so what do I know?
Sounds like you are missing the best parts of the Commons:
– Feeding time – morning and evening
– Heroin market – usually around feeding time but mid day too. The white van has whatever you want. Also, another seller shows up around 3 or so too.
– Evenings – these are the best, particularly on weekends. Lots of drug zombies.
Don’t forget about poo man corner!
The NW corner has many addicts that congregate there and crap on trees, inject heroin, solve the world’s problems.
Have a picnic there! Go ahead. The park is for all remember.
I like how someone passes a law like this 100 foot law and then the taxpayer is on the hook for a half-million dollar toilet…for a water feature only open a few months out of the year that is already across the street from the bathrooms at the Ballard Library.
But the Loo packages everything in a compact, 24/7 facility!
It’s big enough for a small get-together; lights, pooper, out of the wind and rain. I bet even carsongbaker will attend.
carsongbaker would attend the opening of an envelope. aim higher
I hope this remains a convenience for EVERYONE and doesn’t get vandalized/destroyed (this is why we can’t have nice things). The price tag is surprising, though, considering you can buy a small house or condo for not much more.
St. Looke’s.
The Mike O’Brien commemorative Heroin Injection Site looks almost complete.
Bonus: it can be used as a bathroom too!
I could hear the muffled, garbled groaning and uncontrolled paranoia shrieking of excitement from the Commons today.
Those fully enabled heroin using Mike O’Brien voters are so excited to try it out. Looks like a major success for junkies… oops! I mean progressives in Ballard!
Sure, you could use the $550k to build housing or expand rehab services but this quasi safe injection site seems fair for all. And there is no accountability for heroin addicts other than to take heroin so this makes a lot of sense for the progressive platform. Another win guys!