EDMONDS — Visitors may soon be able to linger longer in the downtown shopping district.
The city plans to have new public restrooms installed by this summer, the busiest season for local merchants.
“Public restrooms are one of the top issues for businesses in downtown Edmonds,” said Cadence Clyborne, president of the Edmonds Downtown Alliance. “People don’t stay as long as they could.”
For years, local shops also have been serving as the de facto public restrooms. “If someone comes in with a small child in tow, they’re not going to turn them away,” Clyborne said. But maintaining restrooms used by the general public, as well as by customers, is an additional expense for local businesses, she said. “It’s nice if you can point them to another option.”
The modular restrooms would be installed in a city-owned parking lot south of City Hall, close to downtown shops and restaurants.
The project is expected to cost about $300,000, said Patrick Doherty, director of the city’s Economic Development and Community Services. The City Council has approved spending $260,000. The Edmonds Downtown Alliance pledged $10,000, roughly 10 percent of its annual budget, Clyborne said.
That still leaves about $30,000 to be raised, but city officials are optimistic it can happen.
“I can’t see any reason it can’t be in the summer, if not before summer,” Doherty said of when the project could be finished.
That would coincide with the increase in crowds that come to stroll the streets when the Edmonds Farmers Market opens in June. “Weekends in the summer are extremely busy,” Clyborne said.
The city’s maintenance costs on the restrooms are expected to be about $30,000 a year, Mayor Dave Earling said.
“It’s a public service we should be providing,” he said. “It’s been a long-time problem.”
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486; salyer@heraldnet.com.
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