By Jorge Casuso
May 7 -- Bill Clinton once praised a Downtown parking structure elevator for being cleaner that Disneyland’s. If the former President comes back to visit the new bathrooms in Parking Structure 4 anytime soon, he might likely give them four stars.
The newly built bathrooms are not only more spacious than the old ones -- the men’s and women’s rooms boast 13 stalls each -- the sinks have hot water and the mirrors are glass, instead of stainless steel.
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| New Downtown Bathroom |
What’s more, an attendant will staff the bathrooms when they’re open to the public every day from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
“There’ll be no mints or cologne, but they will be nice, like restrooms at the Four Seasons,” said Andrew Thomas, the head of operations for the Bayside District. “There will be somebody outside the restrooms full-time every minute they are open.
“They’ll make sure people are not using the restrooms for uses they’re not meant for, like bathing or doing drugs,” Thomas said. “That kind of behavior won’t fly in these restrooms.”
The new ambassadors will direct Downtown visitors to the restrooms, which will be included in a map of the area they will hand out. And cards with information on the restrooms will be distributed to Downtown merchants to display in their establishments.
“Many merchants don’t have bathrooms for the public,” Thomas said.
The new restrooms – which will open as soon as they pass final inspection -- were included in a project to seismically retrofit the parking structure. They will be run by the City until June 1, when the Bayside will take over.
