Five years after Denver launched the Public Restroom Pilot Project, a new freestanding, permanent public restroom will be installed and is anticipated to be ready for use beginning this spring in downtown.

The colorful, blue wrap restroom will stand in the previous parking lane along Champa Street near the 16th Street Mall and will offer pedestrians an accessible, convenient, clean and safe facility.

“Providing residents and visitors with access to a comfortable, clean restroom meets a basic and universal human need, and we’re proud to deliver this facility to the people of Denver,” said Mayor Michael Hancock.

“By making restroom facilities more accessible to all, we increase people’s ability to get out and enjoy our downtown area with confidence and improve quality of life and the way our city looks and functions.”

The restroom will have two rooms: one standard and one that is ADA compliant, officials said. 

In 2016, Denver began its public restroom pilot project that assessed the need of public restrooms throughout the central part of Denver and evaluated options for providing such services in high-use, high-traffic areas. 

The project used two mobile restrooms that prioritized safety and cleanliness as it moved throughout multiple locations across Denver.

The end result? Downtown’s 17th public restroom location, according to Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure. 

“Today the vision of using what we’ve learned from the mobile restroom pilot to create lasting infrastructure takes a step forward on our beloved 16th Street Mall,” said At-large Denver City Councilwoman Robin Kniech. “I look forward to building upon this success to ensure our infrastructure matches the vibrancy and needs of our city.”

Aside from giving residents and visitors a new place to take care of business, the new restroom will have a full-time attendant, security cameras to enhance safety, increased walkways to allow social distancing and a station where bikes and scooters can be parked. 

Utility connection and other location work is underway, but officials say the restroom should be available for use this spring.