Reno’s newest, and perhaps most talked about, restroom opens Monday, Aug. 17 with a 9 a.m. public ceremony—yes, ceremony—in Broadhead Memorial Park, just east of downtown Reno near South Wells Avenue and Kuenzli Street.
The restroom, a “Portland Loo,” is the first installation in the River Restroom Project, a collaborative community effort to protect the Truckee River’s water quality and improve the corridor’s cleanliness for recreational users and environmental protection. The project is an offshoot of the One Truckee River Management Plan, Phase I.
“This is a solution the entire community has been working towards for a long time,” said Iris Jehle-Peppard, One Truckee River Executive Director. “And it’s gratifying to see it all come together in a way that will serve our community on a number of levels—particularly in the usability of our public spaces and protection of the environment both in and around the Truckee River,” she added.
A host of local organizations have participated in the project, hoping to protect the quality of the Truckee River.
“The majority of drinking water in the Truckee Meadows flows through urban areas,” they said in a statement. “This dynamic calls for a variety of different efforts to protect water quality, including but not limited to; efforts to reduce residential run-off, increase public facilities along waterways, reduce invasive species and educate the community on proper waste disposal.”
The Broadhead Park Portland Loo is the first of 9 to 18 public restrooms planned for installation along the river’s 114-mile stretch.
Project partners said they selected the Portland Loo because of its durability and easy maintenance, and, they said, it “minimizes use of the facility for unintended purposes.”
Project partners are Truckee Meadows Water Authority, Truckee River Fund, Washoe County Parks and Open Space, Washoe County Health District, City of Reno, Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, Renown Health, Nevada Land Trust, Karma Box Project, Reno Initiative for Shelter and Equality, and Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful.
