CLEVELAND (WJW) — The city’s first freestanding public restrooms are tentatively planned for four locations.
The city plans to install the first three Portland Loos in three city-owned parks: two in Canal Basin Park along the Cuyahoga River and one in Perk Plaza at Chester Commons, according to a city spokesperson.
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Cuyahoga County also plans to install one outside the Virgil E. Brown Building along Payne Avenue.
The Cleveland City Planning Commission approved the restrooms last month.
“Outside of the Metroparks, there are currently no public restroom facilities in the City of Cleveland,” Jorge Ramos Pantoja wrote in an email to FOX 8 News. “The need became apparent during the pandemic as people began spending more time outdoors and when restrooms in businesses, libraries, and public buildings were shuttered. The lack of public restrooms became a public health concern.”
The bathrooms were developed by Portland officials, when the city’s homeless population was on the rise, according to the city’s website . The restrooms are “designed to deter criminal activity and meld into its surrounding environment,” it reads.