4th and Hill Toilet Still Inching Toward Service

By Eric Richardson
Published: Tuesday, June 03, 2008, at 10:07PM

Eric Richardson [Flickr]

This toilet at 4th and Hill has been in the ground since spring of 2007, but has yet to get put into service.

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — A fresh patch of concrete next to the still-not-functional Automated Public Toilet (APT) at 4th and Hill is visual proof that getting the unit in service wasn’t just a matter of turning on the electricity.

That was the report we were given back in January, with an up and running toilet said to be just weeks away. A check back in April found no progress.

Now the street next to the unit has again been torn up and re-surfaced, hopefully for the last time.

Google recently updated its imagery for the Los Angeles area, using shots taken in the first half of 2007. The nearby LAPD HQ was just barely rising above ground level, but one can see our sluggish APT sitting at the corner of 4th and Hill, its initial utility cuts already completed.

This story belongs to the following topics:

Topic:
Toilet Watch

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Comments

Don Garza writes:

I will go to city hall tomorrow and let the powers that be that the city center wants their APT.

I got mine working in skid row

# on Jun.04.2008 AT 12:04 AM

steve writes:

I literally walk right by it on my way to work…should I snap a picture everyday so we can have “toilet watch” 2008….you know, just to hype it up

# on Jun.04.2008 AT 02:27 PM

Dona Junta writes:

How is that public toilet suppose to be better then a port o potty? can someone explain ?do you got to pay to use it?

# on Jun.04.2008 AT 09:43 PM

Eric Richardson writes:

Dona: In short, the APTs are better because they clean themselves between each use, have smoke detectors to discourage some types of drug use (the doors open when smoke is detected) and they monitor their resource levels and status and can call for help when something goes wrong. The city of LA currently charges a quarter to use the toilets, with the exception of the ones in the Skid Row area, which are free.

# on Jun.04.2008 AT 10:24 PM