Columbus public restrooms will get an artistic façade

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- An issue that has been on the City of Columbus’s radar for years is going to have to wait a little longer for a fix.

The city is spending millions of dollars to install three public restrooms around downtown. Now a grant is helping make the bathrooms a more appealing part of the space.

A 614 Beautiful grant from a Columbus non-profit is taking the bathrooms beyond just a stall.

"They provide assets from everything from you know, our unhoused population to you know, bus drivers or business people who just need to take a break, but they are very functional,” Neighborhood Design Center Director of Community Programs Lisa Snyder said. “So how can you kind of use that canvas and propose something that adds a little bit more aesthetic appeal?"

The goal is to find artists who represent the people who make up the city.

"Our vision is simply to go with the vision of the creativity of the artists," Capital Crossroads & Discovery SID Special Projects Manager Mark Klingler said. 

The downtown public restrooms are one of the projects receiving $15,000 to add some creativity and color downtown. The goal is to make the bathrooms functional and appealing to the eye.

The idea came from other artwork around Columbus.

"I think that started when we began to see around the downtown some of the artwork on utility boxes that other organizations have put up, and we decided, ‘hey, this is something we could use to beautify the restrooms,’" Klingler said. 

While the search for artists starts up, the project managers are dealing with two sets of challenges that have pushed the opening date back. The first is technical. 

"Primarily, just the density of underground utilities,” Klingler said. “Any time you start digging, you run the risk of hitting something that wasn't on the official records.”

The second is administrative. 

"This is a new kind of project, and it's not obvious who's responsible when things might go wrong,” Klingler said. “We've been working with the city to establish things like insurance. Who's responsible?"

Despite these challenges, the plan is to have the bathrooms opened by mid-December and to have the artwork completed and in place by the end of June 2024.