Hollywood's First Public Bathroom Gets $1M Boost From City

HOLLYWOOD, CA — Hollywood's first public restroom is set to break ground after the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday approved $1 million for the project.

The restroom, which will also include an adjacent visitor's center, has been in the works for years. It's set to be built at 1627 Vine St., in vacant retail space attached to a city-owned parking garage, according to city documents.

Last year Councilman Hugo Soto-Martínez, the city Department of Transportation and members of the Hollywood Partnership Community Trust, a nonprofit associated with the Hollywood Partnership Business Improvement District, announced plans for the project.

The Hollywood Partnership will operate the facility.

Soto-Martínez at the Hollywood Partnership's annual meeting in November said the facility will help make the area more appealing to tourists and support economic development. The city-provided funding comes from a pot of over $4 million meant to help improve the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

"Folks come here but they don't know where to go to use the restroom —we were very happy to secure $1 million to build the first public restroom in the Hollywood area," Soto-Martínez said at the meeting.

The council on Tuesday voted unanimously to support the funding allocation. Councilmembers Bob Blumenfield and Monica Rodriguez were absent during the vote.

Los Angeles is lacking when it comes to public bathrooms. The 2021 Public Toilet Index report found LA's 189 public toilets amounted to five toilets per 100,000 people and 1.6 toilets for each 100 square kilometers (about 62 square miles).

San Francisco had 228 public toilets, or 26 per 100,000 people and 19 toilets per 100 square kilometers.