Hurdles remain for St. Armands restrooms

Before she can support a proposal to build free-standing public restrooms on St. Armands Circle, City Commissioner Shelli Freeland Eddie needs to know just how much it would cost to keep the facilities clean.

Preliminary plans for adding two restroom structures in the shopping district projected an annual expense of $73,000 for maintaining two restroom structures. That would include just less than $50,000 yearly for cleaning services.

In addition to nightly janitorial work, that figure included a day porter working seven days a week from noon to 5 p.m. At a meeting Monday, Eddie questioned that timeframe. Considering the amount of activity in St. Armands, she anticipated visitors would use the restrooms earlier and later — and that they would still have a high standard for the cleanliness.

With that in mind, she treated the cost projections with skepticism.

“I think this is a way, way lowball figure,” Eddie said.

Concerns about maintenance expenses are just one issue that must be addressed before city officials are comfortable approving any proposal. For at least two years, St. Armands leaders have been pursuing options for adding bathrooms to the area. Business owners say visitors regularly duck into stores or restaurants in search of a restroom.

“This is the No. 1 complaint we receive from customers on a monthly basis,” said Diana Corrigan, executive director of the St. Armands Circle Association.

The St. Armands Business Improvement District hopes to place two structures on John Ringling Boulevard and South Boulevard of the Presidents, each with six restrooms inside. The estimated construction cost is $466,000, which the BID intends to fund. Adding in design work, the BID has budgeted $582,580 toward the project.

The annual maintenance would be the city’s responsibility. City Manager Tom Barwin said he thought the $73,000 estimate was probably a minimum for maintenance, considering the challenges the city has faced managing restrooms in other high-traffic areas, such as the Lido Pavilion.

Already, the city intends to include and operate public restrooms in the St. Armands Circle parking garage, scheduled to open in December. St. Armands stakeholders believe additional restrooms are necessary, arguing that visitors wouldn’t walk all the way across the Circle to go to a single bathroom location.

The board declined to take any action Monday, instead directing staff to continue to research the proposal for future discussion. Both Barwin and Deputy City Manager Marlon Brown indicated they believed any project would need to include a rigorous plan for maintenance.

“They want someone to respond right away,” Brown said.