The downtown community has learned many lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic. When businesses closed in COVID’s wake, access to public restrooms vanished as well.

Last spring, Capital Crossroads and Discovery special improvement districts recognized this problem and used an emergency grant from United Way of Central Ohio, as well as funding from the City of Columbus, ADAMH, and Encova, to place eight temporary sinks and twelve portable restrooms Downtown to help alleviate the problem, at least temporarily. 

Now, City Council has approved $875,000 in federal Community Development Block grant funds for the design and construction of five permanent public restrooms Downtown. The City plans to place them in high-need areas, such as the High street corridor. The SIDs will meet with the downtown community and property owners in the area to help finalize the locations.

Columbus has looked at similar projects in other cities, including Portland, which designed the Portland Loo. These steel units offer a single stall inside, with a sink for handwashing outside the unit. They also have open-air caging at the top and bottom to improve ventilation and allow people to see and hear individuals inside for crime prevention. 

The temporary facilities were successful in supporting a range of individuals downtown, and funding to extend the portable restrooms through the end of 2021 has come from the City of Columbus and Franklin County. From people walking to and from parking or bus stops, to individuals experiencing homelessness, the pandemic demonstrated a true need for permanent public restrooms Downtown. Installation of the permanent restrooms must be completed by the fall of 2022 based on federal grant requirements.