Bangor is holding the first of three public meetings Wednesday evening to receive feedback on the city’s plan to install six public bathrooms around town.
The city has proposed installing a single stall bathroom on Broad Street and in five parks: Hayford Park, Chapin Park, Coe Park, Fairmount Park and Broadway Park. The structures would be made out of steel, making them more durable and resistant to vandalism, and have an opening at the bottom to allow for cleaning, ventilation and monitoring.
The forums are scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday at Fairmount School, 6 p.m. Thursday at William S. Cohen School, and 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Bangor Public Library. The public can participate remotely through Zoom links that can be found in the city’s online calendar.
The bathrooms, which would be open 24 hours a day year-round, aim to address the lack of accessible public facilities in Bangor. The city’s existing public bathrooms in the library and the temporary city hall in the Penquis Building on Harlow Street have set business hours. There are also two others on the waterfront that are open seasonally.
Each single restroom costs about $30,000 to manufacture and install, plus an additional $1,200 annual maintenance fee, according to Tracy Willette, Bangor’s parks and recreation director. In total, city councilors set aside $221,700 in pandemic relief funds to pay to install and service the units.
The structures, which would be very similar to the public bathrooms installed around Portland, would be mounted on a concrete pad with a tank below, meaning they would not have plumbing. This allows the bathrooms to be moved if the city’s needs or priorities change.