Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


A “grand opening” ceremony was held to debut new public restrooms in downtown Howell.

The new restrooms are located on Clinton Street, behind the historic Livingston County Courthouse. Getting a public restroom downtown has been a long-term goal, going back many years. There were some delays associated with getting the building installed and the City had to wait for fixtures to be available.

A lot of humor was woven throughout the event held Thursday afternoon, which featured an official “toilet paper cutting” ceremony.

A fun, tongue-in-cheek speech was delivered by Howell Mayor Bob Ellis, who wore a top hat for the occasion. He shared some bathroom trivia questions and a few jokes, saying “The project has been backed up for a while, but with some pushing and straining from the DDA, it finally came out OK”.

Ellis further thanked the Downtown Development Authority and public works staff who got the project completed and asked that the community try to keep the new facilities nice.

Ellis told WHMI quite a few people came out for the event and they’re really proud to have the new bathrooms available – which are a big improvement from the porta-potties previously used for events. He says it’s a very nice facility that’s heated with four separate rooms that will fit a whole family and is also ADA accessible. Ellis added this has been something the community has wanted for many years and they were finally able to get it put together.

Outdoor surveillance cameras were also installed in case of any problems with vandalism or graffiti, which could also help to serve as a deterrent.