If you need a little break while enjoying some time in Pensacola, the city says relief is on the way. A trio of semi-permanent restrooms are heading to Pensacola later this month. The facilities are called Portland Loos, and they will be whizzing their way to the city on February 21.
“It will be two to three weeks once they arrive,” said Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves at his City Hall press conference on Tuesday. “We don’t control how quick they get here from the 21st, but once they arrive (it will take) about two to three weeks to put in the infrastructure and the pad and all those other things to get them operational.”
The Portland Loos is a metal kiosk developed for the city of Portland with graffiti-proof walls and open grating to provide restrooms for the public without the crime and other problems of regular public restrooms. They are not porta-pottys, they are installed on a slab with water and sewer connections.
“Our plan right now is to put one at MLK Plaza,” said Reeves. “As we discussed with D.I.B. Before my administration, there was agreement between them and the (city) council about getting some bathrooms there. We have moved from a brick and mortar (facility) to a Portland Loo. So we’ll put one at MLK right there at Gregory (Street).”
A second unit will be installed at the skate park on North Hayne Street and the third will find a home at Bruce Beach. This is because the city is looking into opening the completed portions of the new park at Bruce Beach before the total project in complete.
“It’s looking like right now, and again this is not final, that we could have a phase one (at Bruce Beach) open at some point in March,” said Reeves. “Whereas the phase two would not be done until October. So I felt like that was enough time to create some value for the citizens to let them use the playground, the pedestrian bridge and all that.”
In total, the city purchased five Portland Loos, but delivery of the final two is on hold while the city looks for partners in the project.
“I’m looking at partnering with D.I.B. and the University of West Florida about putting one perhaps at Museum Plaza, right there behind the museum in partnership with UWF,” he said. “We had a great conversation with them, working on some final details there. And then the fifth one, at this point, would probably be a second restroom at Bruce Beach.”
The mayor also said that part of the value in the Portland Loos is that they are modular, so they can be moved to a different location if there is an urgent need.
