Monitor to Assure Security : Public Restrooms Will Open Soon Downtown

Wanted: Someone with strong knowledge of San Diego who can provide tourist information and bus schedules--and clean restrooms.

That’s what it will take to run an information-type booth in the new free toilets--the only public restroom downtown--expected to open early next month in the Civic Center complex.

Under an obligation to replace downtown’s only public restrooms, which were demolished in 1984 when Horton Plaza began reconstruction, Centre City Development Corp. last October approved a plan to build new restrooms at the site on 3rd Avenue and C Street.

Only Bid Too High

There was a delay when the only bid, by Landex Construction Co., was over the project’s $200,000 budget. Landex and the CCDC negotiated and eventually arrived at an agreement.

“We worked with them until we got the budget below where we could approve it,” said Beverly Schroeder, associate planner on the project for the CCDC.

“The process was longer than most projects because there was so much input from so many people as far as the safety and design and as to how it would be operated,” Schroeder said.

The one-story restroom building, which was designed by architects Williamson and Watts to look like the other structures in the complex, has a skylight for natural light and ventilation, and landscaping on the roof to match the existing grounds. A monitor in a booth between the restrooms will control who uses them by pressing a button that automatically opens doors. The monitor also will be expected to clean the restrooms at regular intervals during the day.

“It’s considered an attendant position,” Schroeder said. “Generally, (the restroom) will be cleaned every hour, and in the evening it will be washed down and cleaned up for the next day.”

Safe and Orderly

“By monitoring it, we mean to make sure it’s a safe, orderly environment,” said Jon Dunchack, management assistant to the city manager. “We had problems with the low-grade restrooms in the old Horton Plaza. We want this one to operate 365 days a year from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.

“This is a high-profile area, and there would not only be tourists, but shoppers and people coming downtown,” Schroeder said. By “maintaining the facility in a good, clean way and making sure that security is a high priority,” Schroeder said, it is hoped that “people’s comfort level will be higher than may be normal.”

Because of its location near the trolley line, the booth also will double as an information center where people can get bus and trolley schedules, and brochures and literature about downtown.

“The project is unique to the City of San Diego,” Dunchack said. “It is the first such facility. We hope this facility will not be used solely by downtown transients, but by a broad spectrum of people downtown, including tourists.”

The City Council is working on a plan for more public restrooms.

Operating expenses for the restroom are $43,942 annually, $6,000 below budget. An independent contractor has been selected by the city’s Park and Recreation Department to maintain and staff the restroom and booth.

An exact date for the opening of the restrooms has not been determined because of a delay in getting equipment, but a tentative date of May 1 has been discussed by the CCDC and the city manager’s office.