Can We Finally Expect More Public Restrooms in Downtown Portland, Maine?

You're downtown on a nice summer day, maybe walking around near the Eastern Prom, checking out all of the great local shops in the Old Port, and you feel it coming. Duty is calling, but now what?

The panic sets in. Do you go to the nearest restaurant and try to sneak by the staff and make your way to the restroom, incognito-style? Do you decide it's time to eat dinner, even though you're not even hungry? Or do you just cut your visit short because you don't think there's a better option? We've all been there.

Portland has a lot to offer, but conveniently-located public restrooms are not among the amenities. But there appears to be a plan in the works that could not only benefit the locals and visitors, but also the local businesses as well.

Cary Tyson, director of non-profit Portland Downtown, recently told News Center Maine:

When it's important to our local business community, our local citizens, our visitors, then it's important to us

 

Bangor appears to continue to be working on the problem as well. They plan on coming up with a plan in the coming weeks. Whether this inconvenience will be a thing of the past when summer tourists roll in (or whether there will be enough public restrooms to satisfy the needs of locals and tourists) is unknown. But the fact that it's being addressed as an issue is a start.