‘Practical and thought-provoking’ pop-up public toilets open in Winnipeg

Where do you go, when you need to go, downtown?

Downtown Winnipeg Biz rolled out their plan for alleviating the challenge of finding public washroom facilities Monday.

Pop-up public toilets were shown off at their current location near Holy Trinity Church on Graham Avenue at Smith Street.

Access to public washrooms is a constant challenge, for people who need them and for businesses frequently fielding requests from people wanting to use their facilities. Even worse, people sometimes simply relieve themselves in a public place.

Several businesses in the core area said they regularly have to clean up after their doorsteps or storefronts have been used as someone’s impromptu toilet.

READ MORE: ‘Not enough public washrooms’: Winnipeg business owner fed up with public urination

Downtown Biz CEO Stefano Grande said there used to be public facilities Downtown and thanks to their partnership with Siloam Mission, now there are again.

“We knew those visiting downtown weren’t flush with options, so its is our hope these new toilets will be both practical and thought provoking,” Stefano added.

Access to washrooms has long been a topic of much debate, with businesses often restricting use of their facilities to customers only.

The temporary toilets will be relocated every few weeks among four sites in the downtown area through the summer:

• Graham Avenue at Smith Street
• The SHED (Sports, Hospitality and Entertainment District)
• off Main Street
• near Portage Place

Hours of operation will start out at 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, with the possibility of an expanded schedule.  One of the two toilets was designed to be fully accessible.

READ MORE: Montreal prepares to unveil new high-tech, self-cleaning public bathrooms

Staff from Siloam Mission will maintain the units, in addition to operating an attached kiosk which will offer t-shirts, water bottles and art cards. Proceeds raised will go toward Siloam programs.

The total cost of the pilot project was about $100,000.