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ANN ARBOR, MI — Touchless, portable, app-accessible public restrooms are coming to Ann Arbor.
The City Council voted unanimously Monday night, Nov. 6, to contract with Throne Labs for 10 bathrooms for a price no more than $500,000.
Throne is introducing its portable units, which are planned to be installed along the sidewalks downtown, as very pretty toilets with porcelain fixtures and smart sensors that allow users to enter, flush the Array, wash their hands and pass out without touching a single surface.
The restroom can be accessed by scanning a QR code and then sending a preloaded text message to open the door, texting “Throne” to the unit number or the Throne cell app, and pressing the “open” button.
The company says it’s also enforcing a phone-free access approach that allows users who have earned a Throne Card from a spouse service provider to tap to enter.
D-3 Ward Councilwoman Ayesha Ghazi Edwin discussed discussions to convert it into a Throne bathroom in Ann Arbor as a matter of equity and accessibility.
Driven by a preference for providing downtown with more accessible 24-hour public restroom options, Ann Arbor officials have been reading the question for the past two years.
“The generation product provides the most productive solution to common disruptions related to public restroom offerings, adding safety, cleanliness and flexibility,” Derek Delacourt, the city’s network services manager, said in a memo to the council, saying access-to-throne strategies were opposed to negative behavioral and other disruptions with public restrooms.
Revenue streams for the pilot initiative, which is expected to roll out in 2024, come from $200,000 from the city’s federal stimulus funds, $132,000 from the University of Michigan and $168,000 from the Downtown Development Authority.
The Downtown Public Restroom Task Force will install portable restrooms during a one-year evaluation period starting in June 2024 and assemble in 2025 to discuss permanent solutions for public restrooms.
The task force recommended three downtown locations for testing during the initial one-year period, adding the west side of Fourth Avenue, south of Catherine Street, and the north side of Washington Street, east of Main Street and the south side of Liberty. Street west of Maynard Street.
After considering the location of Liberty Street, DDA staff and engineering experts examined other locations and decided that Maynard Street, between William Street and the Maynard parking structure, could work.
From Ann Arbor’s Maynard Parking Lot to Nickels Arcade on June 13, 2023. (Ryan Stanton | MLive. com) Ryan Stanton | Ann Arbor News
Some of the criteria used to compare location features include whether the spaces are well-lit and have a lot of foot traffic, whether they can be permanent locations only, and whether electrical access is available. Other criteria include avoiding being next to outdoor dining spaces or near other public restrooms and minimizing barriers.
City Manager Milton Dohoney has explained in the past that Throne requires the city to hire 10 TVs and that some be located just outside downtown. The city is still looking for other partners who want to participate in the year-long pilot program. and assistance funds it elsewhere, however, city dollars under the American Rescue Plan Act can cover any investment holes beyond what partners cover, city staff told the council in an Oct. 17 memo.
“It’s vital from an economic progress standpoint,” said Councilmember Jenn Cornell, D-5 District. “The public restrooms invite participation in our center and are effective in encouraging tourism. “
Knowing that there are clean public restrooms available without problems makes it more likely that other people will stop by, she said.
Ghazi Edwin discussed the option of creating a public list of corporations that allow public use of their restrooms and being on the list.
There are also public restrooms downtown at amenities such as City Hall, the Blake Transit Center, and the Downtown Library on Fifth Avenue, though they are only open at designated times.
Jeff Hayner, who was on the City Council when the city began talking about the need for more public bathrooms downtown two years ago, told city officials Monday night that testing transitioning services was not what he wanted. I had in mind. He advised that the city give more attention to incorporating public restrooms into amenities like downtown parking lots, affordable housing that the city could simply build on land it owns, and the long-term central park site next to the downtown library. .
City officials said one of the Throne’s promotional issues states that the Throne is to blame for its upkeep and that the city had no more day-to-day jobs or infrastructure to maintain.
In June, the Ann Arbor Public Art Commission recommended that the city make the Throne Bath artistic “so that the amenities contribute attractively to our downtown. “
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