NEW YORK - AUGUST 13: A man exits a public toilet located in Herald Square August 13, 2003 in New York City. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the City Council will adopt legilation in August authorizing about 20 new public toilets for use on city streets. (Photo by Stephen Chernin/Getty Images) (Photo by Stephen Chernin/Getty Images)





The city of Seattle is a step closer to installing a public toilet in the Pioneer Square neighborhood.

The Portland Loo-style toilet is set to be placed in Occidental Park within a few months, according to seattlepi.com. The exact location of the $98,000-facility has not yet been determined, but officials indicated it will be located at the southern edge of the park near South Main Street. The project will then have to get an approval from the city’s preservation board since Occidental Park is in a historic district.

Seattle had installed five, $1 million high-tech, self-cleaning public toilets in 2004 but were ultimately taken over with prostitutes and drug dealers. The city sold the five toilets for a total of $12,500 in 2008.

“We know that the automatic toilet project was a failure,” Center City Coordinator Gary Johnson told seattlepi.com. “But the problem remains a big one in our neighborhood.”

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