When you gotta go… don’t go to Sarasota City Hall

Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go right now? 

If you’re inside Sarasota’s City Hall building, better hope you can hold it. 

For more than a year, the city’s first-floor bathrooms have been out of order — and for months now, every toilet in the historic building has been shut down as crews rip out and replace its crumbling plumbing. 

The $1.2 million fix has forced city employees, commissioners and visitors to make do with outdoor restroom trailers, a walk to the annex next door or a trek across the street, turning a basic human need into a daily inconvenience — and a smelly symbol of how long-overdue maintenance can hit people right where it hurts: the potties.

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Last year in July, officials grew wary about City Hall’s aging pipes when plumbing stopped working properly, forcing the first-floor bathrooms to close. When construction began on the bathrooms in August, officials worried about possible water line ruptures and closed the second-floor bathrooms.

The plumbing, which was 58 years old, was comprised of “brittle, fragile pipes,” said the city’s development services director, Lucia Panica.

“Similar to any construction project involving old infrastructure, we were aware unforeseen issues could be encountered during this necessary project to rehabilitate the building’s plumbing that is nearly 60 years old,” Panica said in a statement. “As the extent of the deteriorated pipes and complexity of the project were revealed, a measured approach had to be taken.”

The project, which is expected to be finished in mid-December, will cost taxpayers around $1.2 million and be funded through the penny tax, a 1% sales surtax, on top of the 6% state sales tax, which helps fund projects around the region. It was approved and extended by voters in 2022.

Though the city has about 800 employees, city spokeswoman Jan Thornburg said there are only about 30 to 35 employees working in-person at city hall on “any given day.” In total, six restrooms with 10 stalls are closed. 

While employees are aware of the bathroom options, City Hall lacks public signage for everyday citizens visiting the building to know where to go when the urge hits.

Merilee D. Karr, president of PHLUSH, a nonprofit organization dedicated to equitable access to sanitation services, said convenient bathrooms are essential for employees to produce their best work and to stay hydrated. 

“Who can think about work or anything else if they have to go to the bathroom?,” Karr said. “Public servants simply cannot serve the public well without public investment in adequate, convenient restrooms. That’s an immeasurable loss.”

The restroom availability isn’t only a nuisance for convenience — but it’s been extremely difficult for disabled individuals to navigate. 

Andrew Pecorella, a wheelchair user and member of the city’s Citizens with Disabilities Advisory Board, said he’s been faced with either not going to the bathroom at City Hall or to go across the street to the City of Sarasota’s One Stop Shop for a proper accessible bathroom. 

The bathrooms in the annex, Pecorella said, are too small for his wheelchair to fit into and the trailer bathroom, while easier to navigate into, struggles with properly transferring out of his chair and can’t wash or dry his hands because things are at the wrong height. 

Pecorella said the committee has not received any complaints about the bathrooms but that he has raised the issue to other leaders in City Hall, who he feels aren’t taking it seriously. 

“It’s frustrating. They’re not really getting how important this is to get it done,” he said. “People need to be able to go to the bathroom. You need your privacy. It’s something that everybody does. So, why shouldn’t the disabled population have the same ability to do it in a space that makes sense?” 

McKenna Oxenden is a government watchdog reporter for Suncoast Searchlight. Reach out to her at mckenna@suncoastsearchlight.org.

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