San Francisco plans to spend 2 years, $1.7 million to build single-toilet public restroom system in Downtown area
San Francisco plans to spend $1.7 million on a single-toilet public restroom system in Downtown San Francisco
San Francisco will spend the next two years installing a single-toilet public restroom system in the City’s historic “Tin Alley,” which has become one of the Bay Area’s most dangerous public urination spots, according to public records obtained by KPIX 5.
The single-toilet system, which would be built at an estimated cost of nearly $1.7 million, would be able to be opened and closed from anywhere in the downtown area, allowing for more people to use the restroom, as requested by residents.
Under the agreement, the City and San Francisco General Hospital would provide the project with necessary funds and labor.
The system would be used for the first time this year, when the first set of toilets would be installed.
San Francisco’s Public Works Department is still searching for the appropriate site for the project.
“We’re hoping that there’s a nice location that would be appropriate,” said Supervisor Scott Wiener, who represents the historic district of ‘Tin Alley.” “We need to have a very safe environment, and this is the first step in trying to get us to a point where we could have a safe area where people can have an opportunity to go to a public restroom.”
But a few blocks from the site, Supervisor Wiener said, would be a good place.
“It would be nice,” he said. “You got to find the right site. … This is the most visible place in the city. We’re hoping the next location is actually a little bit less visible.”
This proposed restroom is being called the Center for the History and Preservation of Public Restrooms and urinals.
The restroom will be located in the historic “Tin Alley” commercial area, in the city’s Civic Center, under a historic building that once housed San Francisco’s first City Hall, and was the location of the first public urinal erected after the city’s founding.
If a suitable site is secured the restrooms will be opened