New Throne Unveiled On Queens Quay
Posted May 19, 2010 2:07 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
There’s not much you can get for 25 cents these days.
But if you’re around the Queens Quay West area a quarter will now ensure you can answer nature’s call in a non cringe-worthy public facility.
The city’s first self-cleaning public toilet was officially unveiled Wednesday at the corner of Queens Quay and Rees Street, just down the street from Rogers Centre and the CN Tower. Twenty-five cents will get you a relatively lengthy amount of time in the new loo – 20 minutes – and when a user is finished the unit seals itself, activating an automated cleaning system.
The pay-as-you-go commode will offer a relatively comfortable experience, as far as public washrooms go, with A/C in the summer and heating in the winter.
Mayor David Miller and local councillor Adam Vaughan were on hand for the inaugural flush. A security guard kept watch over the toilet before that to ensure no one got inside before the official launch.
“The installation of this automated public toilet is a positive development for both residents and visitors to the city,” Miller said. “It will improve the basic level of service offered by the city, provide comfort and convenience, and promote better public hygiene.”
If the toilet isn’t up to the expected standards of cleanliness, users can call a phone number posted on the wall to alert maintenance staff, who’ll be checking the unit three times a day.
The city also plans to provide washroom tokens to street outreach workers who will distribute them to the homeless.
The throne at Queens Quay is the first of 20 that will be installed across the city over the next two decades as part of the city’s partnership with Astral Media to update public furniture, transit shelters, trash and recycling bins and bike posts with 25,000 new pieces.
