Bangor has to replace its new public bathrooms

Bangor’s four public bathrooms will be removed and sent back to the manufacturer after the city found they don’t meet the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.

The error was in schematics prepared by a third party firm, which were given to the manufacturer to construct the standalone stalls. Staff from the city’s engineering department evaluated the plans and found they aren’t accessible, Bangor City Manager Debbie Laurie told city councilors on Monday.

The stalls will be removed, sent back to the engineering firm to be corrected and reinstalled, “so the products we buy are in accordance” with the request for proposal that the city issued, Laurie said.

The bathrooms’ seat height and grab handle locations need to be adjusted to meet ADA standards, said Tracy Willette, Bangor’s parks and recreation director. City staff have met with the contractor to develop a plan to correct the issue, but the city isn’t certain when that will be finished.

The setback is a blow to community members who have advocated for more public bathrooms in downtown Bangor for years. The city approved in January the six individual public bathrooms in various locations around the city using $250,000 in pandemic recovery funds.

The first two bathrooms were installed in June on Broad Street at the intersection with Washington Street and at Cascade Park on State Street. Two more facilities were added last month. Those stalls can be found in Coe Park on Court Street and at Abbott Square on Harlow Street, across the street from the Bangor Public Library.

The city will also ensure the two restrooms still under construction will meet ADA requirements, Laurie said. Those two stalls will be placed in locations that now have public restrooms to reduce the amount of time the resource is unavailable to people who may need it.

The pit toilets sit on concrete pads and are made of steel but open at the bottom to allow for easy cleaning, ventilation and monitoring. The bathrooms are cleaned and serviced twice each week, but city parks and recreation staff check on them between cleanings.