Looking for lovely lavs

ON THE GO | Designers get a sense of urgency about giving portable toilets a long-overdue makeover

Every summer, rows of portable toilets transform a critical area of the Taste of Chicago into the waste of Chicago. While you steel yourself for the inevitable nature's call at Taste this year, take comfort in knowing that times are changing in the portable sanitation industry. Not quickly enough for you this year, but portable facilities are improving.

"It's like anything else, some people drive a Chevy, some people drive a Lexus," said William Carroll, executive director of the Portable Sanitation Association International. "We have basic portable restrooms for construction sites all the way up to solar-powered mechanical flush restrooms."

In 2003, Charmin's upscale Potty Palooza stopped by the Chicago festival, providing sweet relief to the estimated 200,000 to 300,000 tasters.

This year, though, it's back to basics.

There are 500 portable toilets for your convenience at Taste of Chicago, definitely more Chevy than Lexus, plus the permanent restrooms near Buckingham Fountain, said Cindy Gatziolis of the Mayor's Office of Special Events.

But not everyone attending a summer festival or outdoor event will use a low-end portable toilet this summer. People are speaking up and demanding better facilities at outdoor weddings, private parties, swanky golf tournaments and the occasional summer festival.

"The business has evolved and the general public has become exposed to the [high-end] equipment," said Phil Meegan, president of Black Tie Event Services and Black Tie Manufacturing, based in south suburban Frankfort.

Meegan's high-end toilet trailers include humidors, stereos with a CD changer and built-in television screens. Flushable toilets hide behind oak and cherry doors. He'll stock the trailers with fresh flowers if requested.

One trailer features a Van Gogh reproduction over the urinals, though he'll trade the art out depending on customer taste.

One big reason you won't be enjoying upscale toilet trailers at the Taste of Chicago anytime soon is rentals cost around $4,500 a day. Meegan said the price includes setup and take down, cleaning and two attendants staffing the toilets during an event.

And if you've touched the porcelain of a high-end portable toilet trailer, could you ever again enter a humid blue plastic box?

"They're beautiful," Carroll said of the upscale portable potties. "They're better than the toilets in my house."