New public restrooms installed next to Lumen Field ahead of the World Cup are being relocated ahead of schedule after an appeal from a nearby property owner.
In May, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson cut a toilet paper ribbon on four high-tech, solar powered public restrooms in Pioneer Square. Two are located next to Lumen Field and two are near Smith Tower.
The toilets were intended to stay there for a year-long pilot, but the owner of a property next to the two near Lumen Field filed an appeal, arguing that they didn’t meet the Pioneer Square neighborhood’s historic character guidelines.
The appeal was filed by Cederstrand Rentals, a real estate company. Issac Patterson, a lawyer representing Cederstrand in the appeal did not respond to a phone call seeking comment.
According to minutes from a March meeting of the Pioneer Square Historic Preservation Board, Patterson "emphasized that the core question is whether the proposed units support the historic character of the Pioneer Square Preservation District, which is defined by materials such as brick, sandstone, and painted wood signage.”
Instead of fighting the appeal, the city agreed to move the two bathrooms elsewhere in Pioneer Square. That move shouldn’t take more than a day, said Joel Miller, a public space manager with Seattle’s Department of Transportation.
“We didn’t go in knowing we were going to move it or planning to move it, but the ability to move it is definitely a benefit of this pilot,” Miller said.
The bathroom relocation, first reported by The Urbanist, is expected to happen in August, Miller said. The Seattle Department of Transportation is eyeing a list of ten other locations in Pioneer Square. Miller said one of the two bathrooms located near Smith Tower might also be relocated for better solar access.
Expanding public bathroom availability was a campaign promise of Wilson’s. The new Pioneer Square toilets are operated by a company called Throne. Visitors have to sign in with their phones to use the bathrooms, and there’s a 10-minute timer, which Miller said has helped prevent problems with vandalism and drug use.
More than 9,000 people used the bathrooms during their first four weeks of operation. While no final decisions have been made, Miller said city officials are discussing what a more permanent expansion could look like.
“We’re in conversations with the mayor’s office and city leadership on sort of how we take our learnings from this very small pilot and potentially grow it into something more longer lasting,” Miller said.
After using the toilets, visitors are asked to complete a survey about their experience. The bathrooms currently have a cleanliness score of 4.2 out of five.
“If you’re choosing a restaurant on Google, maybe 4.2 is great. But for a public bathroom I’m pretty happy with a 4.2 rating,” Miller said.
