Parking Structure May Get Pay Toilets

Pay toilets may be coming to the Main Street Promenade parking structure in an effort to stop vandals from damaging the restrooms.

The six bathrooms inside the parking structure, open 24 hours a day, have been trashed frequently in recent years, said Ron Hagan, director of community services.

“We’ve had people use a blunt object and bash a sink or toilet,” Hagan said. “It’s a problem I wish we didn’t have to deal with.”

Charging a quarter to use a toilet in the public bathrooms is among several measures the city is studying. Officials estimate the pay toilets could raise about $39,000 a year; proceeds would pay for janitors to maintain the restrooms hourly. The bathrooms are now cleaned twice a day.

Hagan said the city needs to spend about $7,500 to fix the bathrooms but is waiting until measures are adopted to stop vandalism. The council’s downtown subcommittee will consider various ideas at its meeting next month.