Uncertainty hangs over Pittsburgh’s nascent public bathroom initiative as some Downtown stakeholders seek expanded offerings while, emails show, funding nearly ran dry this year.
From September 2023 to February 2024, the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership [PDP] installed and maintained temporary public restroom trailers in two Downtown locations. The initiative gained momentum at a five-hour hearing convened after Allegheny County officials shuttered a major Downtown shelter in June 2023. It was a rare point of agreement between business interests and advocates.
The pilot program was successful, Richard Hooper, vice president of marketing and communications for the PDP, told NEXTpittsburgh in December, confirming the need for additional permanent facilities Downtown. Mayor Ed Gainey’s administration was enthusiastic. Internal communications from August 2023 indicate that the mayor’s office harbored long-term plans to open three to four permanent public restrooms Downtown.
However, internal emails from the mayor’s office obtained through public records requests show months of uncertainty regarding the bathrooms’ future and who would ultimately foot the bill.
Some of those questions have since been answered, at least for now. According to Gainey’s press secretary Olga George, the city was able to carve out $600,000 in American Rescue Plan Act [ARPA] funding to operate public bathrooms Downtown through 2026. Legislation submitted to City Council last week states that the funding will go to “install mobile restrooms and pay for ongoing cleaning services at 11 locations in the City of Pittsburgh.”
The pilot program, funded mostly by corporate donors with supplemental funding from the city and county, consisted of temporary public restroom trailers in two locations: at the intersection of Smithfield Street and Strawberry Way and near the Gateway T station.
In addition to piloting the mobile bathroom trailers, the city also explored the option of opening restrooms inside Pittsburgh Parking Authority garages for public use. The Building Owners and Managers Association of Pittsburgh [BOMA] hired a construction firm to assess the cost of renovating bathrooms in the Grant Street Transportation Center garage and the Fort Duquesne and Sixth Street garage, finding in October 2023 that repairs alone would cost $33,838. In February of this year, the Smithfield Street trailer was replaced by two permanent single-occupancy bathrooms in the Smithfield-Liberty parking garage.
Even with these new offerings, advocates say there still aren’t enough bathrooms Downtown and that the need for them is especially acute for people who are unhoused or sleeping rough in or around the Golden Triangle.
“Downtown, there are not nearly enough bathrooms, and they criminalize people for relieving themselves outside when they have nowhere to go,” said Samantha Schmidt, who provides material support to, and advocates for, unhoused people through Our Streets Collective, in an interview. “That’s a declaration of war against unhoused folks. … It’s dehumanizing the way they withhold those basic human-need resources.”
Who should pay for Downtown bathrooms?
According to emails sent by PDP CEO Jeremy Waldrup earlier this year, Gainey administration officials had at one point assured him that the city would provide, through a trust fund, the funding needed to make the pilot program permanent, but later changed their tune.
“I am concerned that the Anti-violence Trust Fund support is not available, I was under the impression that this was a priority for those funds,” Waldrup wrote in February. He added that the annual cost to operate both the Gateway T trailer and the restrooms in the Smithfield Street garage is $543,480.
In April, Waldrup followed up with a warning that PDP could not continue to support the operations of the two existing bathroom locations.
“As a result [of the bathroom costs], our organization is running a significant deficit and [we] do not have the necessary funds to keep these facilities open and properly maintained. Without a plan for government support of these facilities, we will need to close both facilities,” Waldrup wrote. He added that Downtown “stakeholders” with whom PDP has had “numerous conversations” feel strongly that the city should fund the restrooms.
Jake Wheatley, Gainey’s chief of staff, responded by suggesting Downtown business owners should foot the bill, writing, “In order for this to be sustainable taxpayers aren’t going to be able to cover the costs. We need our business partners to pick up their fair share of these costs.”
Waldrup replied indicating openness to other funding models, and the group agreed to meet up for further discussion. Waldrup and Gainey’s staff scheduled meetings in early May and June to discuss the project.
Thrones throughout Pittsburgh?
Despite uncertainty over funding, PDP and the mayor’s office continued to consider possible vendors and locations for more permanent bathrooms throughout this spring and summer.
PDP met in May with a representative from Throne Labs, a Washington, D.C.-based company that provides portable public restroom trailers. According to emails from Waldrup, the company requires a minimum of 10 sites for a new city and would charge about $800,000 per year, making it much more cost-effective than the current arrangement, as Waldrup mentioned when following-up about the program with city officials.
A PDP spreadsheet created July 16 lists possible locations for Throne facilities, including points along the Three Rivers Heritage Trail, the South Side Color Park, and a centrally located church in East Liberty.
In late June, Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak, who also directs the Office of Management and Budget, emailed Waldrup to let him know the project was still under consideration.
“We’re working on some budget shifts to have done before the [City] Council recess, this is on the list. Still crunching the numbers on a few projects that have slipped behind schedule that may free up funds, will keep you posted,” Pawlak wrote. “We will be introducing our changes the week after next so I anticipate having a clearer picture soon.”
Waldrup emphasized urgency, writing, “I am tasked with obtaining support from the City [for the restrooms] or preparing to shut them down. I remain interested in the Throne concept but in order for this to move forward, I will need the City to engage in some potential locations and funding strategies.”
An amenity for everyone
In July, council approved a $600,000 allocation of ARPA funds for “mobile restroom project.” George later noted that the allocation is “to provide support to Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership [PDP] in the continuation of the temporary bathrooms currently located Downtown.” Neither the city nor Throne Labs would say whether the two are still considering a partnership.
PDP declined to comment on the current status of the public restroom program. Hooper of the PDP wrote in a Sept. 16 email, “We are in the planning stages on a restroom program, but we are unable to share details at this time,” and did not respond to follow-up questions. The licensing agreement between PDP and the Pittsburgh Parking Authority regarding public use of the Smithfield Liberty Garage bathrooms is set to expire at the end of this year.
It’s not just unhoused people who benefit from accessible public restrooms. A 2022 Point Park University feasibility study on public bathrooms in downtown Pittsburgh initiated by BOMA emphasized that all Pittsburghers would benefit from increased access to bathrooms.
“The successful installation of accessible public restrooms will enhance public health and safety, improve economic growth, and encourage tourism, while decreasing the chance for public human defecation and urination,” the report argues.
Lars Peterson, who works Downtown at PPG Plaza, said they worry about those who don’t have the privilege of an office building in the area.
“It concerns me how many establishments Downtown have a strict pay-to-use policy or have just stopped offering bathrooms. If I didn’t have an office, it would be something in the back of my head that it would take a long search to find a bathroom. I can’t imagine how it is for people who are homeless or don’t work Downtown,” they said.
Faith Muse, who commutes to work on the North Side by bus and transfers buses Downtown, said that the lack of available bathrooms makes it difficult to manage her irritable bowel syndrome.
“Kinda don’t want to have to lie about being pregnant,” just to use the bathroom, she wrote in a text message.
Jordana Rosenfeld is a freelance writer in Pittsburgh and former PublicSource intern who covers carceral issues and can be reached at jordanarosenfeld@gmail.com.
This story was fact-checked by Lucas Dufalla.
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