Nevada Street public bathrooms about to go down the drain

Photo by Pat Butler

In his report, City Engineer Bill Falconi said the bathrooms need new roofs, floors, walls, siding and fixtures. In addition, the plumbing and electrical services are in poor condition, he said. “The bottom line is they are not worth fixing."

 The Nevada Street public bathrooms, once part of a plan to welcome tourists who arrived by charter bus, will soon become part of the town's past.

 The Nevada City Council voted recently to close the two public bathrooms, which overlook Highway 49 as it passes through town.

 City Engineer Bill Falconi asked the council to close the restrooms in the Nevada Street parking lot. He estimated it would cost more than $15,000 to repair the bathrooms. In his report, Falconi said the bathrooms need new roofs, floors, walls, siding and fixtures. In addition, the plumbing and electrical services are in poor condition, he said.

 “The bottom line is they are not worth fixing,” Falconi said today.

 The bathrooms were built in 1972 at 101 Nevada Street for tourists who were expected to arrive by bus and be dropped off in the parking lot, which is just a short walk from the historic downtown district.

 Falconi said that after the bathrooms were built, the city received permission from from the California Department of Transportation to allow charter buses to park on the Broad Street overpass. As a result, the bathrooms were never used as intended.

 In recent years, vandals have increasingly targeted the bathrooms that have fallen into disrepair, Falconi said.

 Since 1972, the city engineer said three public bathrooms have been added to the downtown district: Robinson Plaza in 2008, City Hall in 2000 and the Commercial Street parking lot in 1997.

 Falconi said once the bathrooms are demolished, the space could be used to add four parking spaces to the lot that is now used primarily by downtown employees.

 The council voted unanimously at its Feb. 10 meeting to close the bathrooms but no action was taken on parking spaces.

 Falconi said the city expects to have the bathrooms removed by the end of the summer.