Bangor will install five public bathrooms around the city this summer, but not where initially planned.
The city had proposed placing standalone public bathrooms in five neighborhood parks and one along the Bangor waterfront. But city staff revisited that idea after residents at community forums in March and April voiced concerns about the proposed locations.
While Bangor residents approved of adding public bathrooms, they largely opposed putting them in neighborhood parks because they feared the stalls would attract vandalism, drug use and other unwanted behavior.
The updated locations for the bathrooms, which city councilors approved on Monday, include Coe Park, the Essex Woods dog park, across the street from the Bangor Public Library, Cascade Park, and on the corner of Broad and Washington streets.
The proposal to install more public bathrooms was developed to address long-standing complaints by residents and visitors that there aren’t enough facilities available.
The city’s current public bathrooms are mostly in public buildings, such as the Bangor Public Library and Transit Center, which have set business hours. Some places in Bangor, like Cascade Park and City Forest, however, have portable or pit toilets.
The lack of accessible, clearly marked amenities limits the amount of time people of all ages can spend enjoying downtown or recreational areas, and it poses a serious challenge for people who are homeless in the area. It also forces people to ask local businesses to use their facilities or relieve themselves outside.
Councilors on Monday largely said they understood residents’ concerns about the initial proposed locations, but several clarified that the restrooms are intended to be a resource for everyone, not just people who are homeless.
“We do a lot for our unhoused population, but this is not a program specifically targeted to our unhoused,” Councilor Gretchen Schaefer said. “The unhoused may benefit from this, but this is for the citizens of Bangor, no matter where they live.”
Cara Pelletier, city council chair, said she was “a little dismayed” by the comments from residents advocating against installing bathrooms in neighborhood parks.
“There is nowhere in the city code that differentiates between city parks and neighborhood parks,” Pelletier said. “Just because you live around a park doesn’t mean you own it. The people who don’t live near your park also pay to mow and maintain it.”
City councilors in January voted to allocate $250,000 in federal pandemic recovery funding to build, install and maintain up to six public bathrooms. The bathrooms, which are now being constructed, will be installed in phases this summer, as the contractor can build two units every three weeks, said Debbie Laurie, Bangor’s city manager.
The steel units will sit on concrete pads and be open at the bottom to allow for easy cleaning, ventilation and monitoring. The company creating the stalls will service them twice a week and parks and recreation staff will check on the facilities between those cleanings, Laurie said. The city can later boost how frequently the bathrooms are cleaned if needed.
The estimated cost to service the units twice a week is $24,000 annually.
The five new standalone bathrooms will bring Bangor’s public restroom count to 10, according to Laurie.
“I think this is a good, robust start and I have high hopes,” Pelletier said. “I hope by the end of this tourist season we’ve had a lot of positive public comments on the availability of facilities for everybody in the city.”
