City Toilet Removed, But It Will Be Back

Phillyskyline’s Brad Maule clues me in on a development I should have been paying more attention to. The pay toilet is gone!

The toilet opened in November 2006 and probably attracted a few customers or something. The toilet was removed because it was simply a pilot toilet on loan from Wall USA, which along with CBS and Clearchannel are bidding for Philadelphia’s street furniture (read: ads) contract.

Anyway, we have a few ad- and toilet-free months (okay, not really ad-free) until the winning bidder gets to put a ton of toilets all over the city. Brad (who’s responsible for the photo) has more at his website.

City Residents Soon To Be Blinded With Ads

The pay toilet that has been letting you shit on City Hall since last November will soon have a bunch of friends in town: The City of Philadelphia will soon choose from one of three companies to install street furniture in the city.

The street furniture — benches, bus stops, newsstands, honor box corrals, trashcans, advertising kiosks (sadly) and, of course, toilets — will make whichever company wins the bidding a lot of money from advertising. The city will get a bunch of money, too, which will be evenly distributed among city citizens and also given to the poor. Or they’ll pave the sidewalks with platinum and buy John Street a space shuttle.

The city did ask the companies to create a uniform look for the city’s street furniture, so all our ads will be color-coded. The company who wins the right to put giant ads in Center City will also be allowed the right to complain about Frost/El Toro and Bob Will Reign, who aren’t big companies paying for the right to put graffiti in the city.

Meanwhile, one of the bidders is a group that includes Clear Channel and two former press aides to Mayor Street. I look forward to their ugly street furniture.

Ads to adorn Phila.’s new shelters, benches [Inquirer]