Lehigh Valley, PA, Flush With Tourists

The Morning Call: The SteelStacks arts and cultural campus may be the envy of civic leaders across the Lehigh Valley. But aside from the venue's music, movies, art and festivals, what might really impress everyday folk are the toilets. The place is flush with them.

Inside the four-story ArtsQuest Center, there are 46 toilets and 16 urinals. And the nearby Bethlehem Landing, the visitors center to open next year, will feature another 41 toilets and 12 urinals.

They're not smelly portable potties but flushing, clean commodes in a heated or air-conditioned building. And they really are public. No gates. No purchase required. No reason to leave the area. Toilets may not draw visitors to downtowns, but they keep them there longer, community leaders say. And until now, the Valley hasn't been a bladder's best friend.

"What visitors are telling us time and time again is that when they come to town, it is extremely difficult to find a restroom in the downtowns throughout the Lehigh Valley," said Mike Stershic, executive director of Discover Lehigh Valley.

The Lehigh Valley's three cities used to have public restrooms, or comfort stations, underground. Allentown engineer Harry F. Bascom came up with the idea in 1919 and, with contractor George H. Hardner, built one at Seventh and Hamilton streets. Easton and Bethlehem quickly followed suit.

By the 1960s, the subterranean rooms became magnets for homeless people and drug dealers. Allentown closed its underground restrooms in 1983. Bethlehem and Easton closed theirs as well.

Since then, shoppers have had to rely on the hospitality of merchants or just cut their trips short when nature calls. Welcome centers have some toilets, but it can be a long wait when busloads of tourists are dropped off.

When competing for the masses with suburban malls and their spiffy restrooms, the absence of such facilities could be just as devastating as no parking, said Roger Brooks, tourism expert and author of the book "Your Town: A Destination. On average, visitors will cut their trips short by about two hours if they can't find a suitable restroom, he said. That's two hours less browsing boutiques, sipping coffee and spending cash.

And there is a growing need for restrooms as Americans shift from the malls to town centers, Brooks said.

"There is a very huge trend taking place across the country. We're gravitating toward the European standard, getting back to central plaza areas," he said. "We're eating later and shopping later at night. But that also means an increased demand for public restrooms. If you're going to hang out, you're going to need a place where you can get some relief. That's good business. That's something Starbucks has down."

And McDonald's, Wawa and hundreds of other pit stops along the highway that use their restrooms as a lure.

SteelStacks is using its bathrooms more to keep people than to attract them. "We're going to have 2,500 people at Levitt Pavilion for a concert. Imagine the need for bathrooms," said ArtsQuest President Jeff Parks, whose group stages Musikfest and built the ArtsQuest Center. "We're going to have weekly farmers markets. Bathrooms are very important to the functioning of this site.

Like Parks, Brooks believes a relieved tourist is a happy tourist. If you don't believe it, look at Disney World – the happiest place on earth has more than 70 restrooms.