It’s fancy and a complete waste of taxpayers dollars. ‘The Portland Loo’ came with a whopping near-$200,000 price tag — and no, it’s not made of gold.
For a community with a population of just over five thousand, there is no need to have this modern, fancy toilet. We are not a big city and the cost of it is just ridiculous.
When I heard about a toilet being installed with a price tag of that magnitude, I thought it would be a building, not a piece of steel.
For me, ‘The Portland Loo’ is a tourist attraction. I went to see it for myself when I heard about it. Not to use the facility, but to see for my own two eyes that it’s the weirdest thing to have in a small town.
The location of said toilet does not make sense either. It sits on Second Avenue near Main Street, which I don’t think is a great spot for it. If you’re going to spend that much money on the toilet, why not put it in Bovill Square or on Highway 16 near Sixth Avenue? That would be more logical.
Not to mention the loo is right by the sidewalk, with the open vents on the top and bottom of the facility. I’m fairly certain if you walk by the loo when someone is doing their business, it will be audible and most certainly have a lofting smell.
I pulled some news clippings from the United States where they had installed ‘The Portland Loo’ and San Diego was one of the cities that installed one. After 13 months, they removed it because it was a ‘magnet’ for crime and ended up costing the city more in the long run.
I predict ‘The Portland Loo’ won’t stay in Smithers for very long. While it’s hard to predict if it will become a target for vandalism, I think no matter what it will end up costing the Town more in operations then what was budgeted.
The money that was spent on this toilet could have gone to something more meaningful like the roads or infrastructure, not a toilet just because it looks cool.
I’m not opposed to the installation of a public restroom in the downtown, but one that is meant for a large city I do not agree with — we are Smithers, not Vancouver.