Bangor City Council Plans Phased Roll-Out of 5 New Public Restrooms

There's been quite a bit of talk surrounding the need for more public restrooms in Bangor. Prior efforts have been made to place port-a-potties in some spots, but due to lack of maintenance, they ended up being vandalized and had to be removed.

While there are currently five public restrooms available including facilities at the Harbor Master and the utilities building on the waterfront, the transit center, the bathrooms at City Hall, and the pit toilet, many people believe there need to be more options for folks moving about the city.

In January of 2024, a plan was suggested, modeled after a program put in place in Portland, to build six steel buildings, larger than a traditional port-a-potty, which would sit on a concrete pad in various locations around the city.

The units would be open at the bottom and cost $14,000 to build and $3,500 for each concrete pad. The Council allocated $250,000 in State and Local Fiscal Recovery, with $107,400 going towards the units themselves and the rest of the money going towards upkeep and maintenance and an art campaign to decorate each restroom.

Public comment has been mixed says the Bangor City Manager. While it seems that there's an overwhelming consensus of folks who understand the need for such facilities, both for the general population, but also for Bangor's unhoused population, Laurie says many voiced concerns about the proposed locations "regarding vandalism, drug use, and illicit activity."

Laurie says the locations that have been suggested are highly-visible and highly accessible. And while six locations were recommended at the beginning of the year, she said they have scaled that back to five, and would be using a staged approach to "test" the placements first.

"In recognition of concerns raised, at this point, the staff is recommending beginning with the five locations described rather than the six initially suggested to provide the necessary time to evaluate the effectiveness of the new initiative. "

She says it takes about two weeks to construct the units before they can be placed. The initial restrooms would go into locations on Broad Street and at Cascade Park.

Following that, units would be placed at Abbot Square and Coe Park next.

And lastly, the last unit would be placed up by the dog park on Essex St.

"As a starting point, all units will be scheduled for service twice weekly. In addition, Parks staff will visit between contractor servicing to ensure restrooms are in order and assess whether a change in the frequency of contractor service is needed. Total estimated annual cost for the third party service is $24,000 ($400 (2x per week) X 5 units X 12 months)."

Laurie says with the placement of units every three weeks or so, all five of the new locations should have public restrooms by the end of the summer but also allow for the project to have a bit of a trial run at each location.