Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 31, 1991 TAG: 9103310170
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RICHARD L. VERNACI ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: BETHESDA, MD. LENGTH: Medium
But back behind the food court, here known as the Boulevard Cafes, at the end of a freshly tiled corridor is something they're proud of. Customers gush with enthusiasm over it. A couple have even written letters to the editors of the local papers to praise it.
It's the toilet.
Down the hall from the doorways marked "Men" and "Women" there's a third choice: "Family Restroom."
Not since Thomas Crapper put one in Queen Victoria's Sandringham Castle (Victoria's other secret), has porcelain and plumbing attracted such attention.
"This type of comprehensive facility hasn't been done anywhere in the country," explains Steven Nicklin, assistant general manager for marketing at the mall.
Inside is a softly lit, three-room suite with piped-in music, cheery framed illustrations from children's stories and a park-style wooden bench for the weary to sit and pass the time.
In one room is an itty bitty toilet with a little sink and mirror. Everything is close to the floor. The room next door has grownup-size stuff. Both have big doors that lock.
In the anteroom, where the bench is, there is also a changing table, a sink and a machine that dispenses diapers, moistened wipes and (mercifully) a plastic bag to dispose of the old one.
"They get all of this for 50 cents," Nicklin says.
The mall, located in this upper-crust suburb of Washington, D.C., is being renovated. In the process, someone got the idea of sparing parents the occasional awkward moment of a dad taking a little daughter into the men's room or a little boy going in there alone while his mom waits in the hallway biting her nails.
"Look at that. Isn't that cute?" said Norma Goodman of Rockville, who was taking her 5-year-old granddaughter, Alyssa, into the kiddie potty.
"I think it's marvelous," said Goodman, who at first was shocked to see a reporter and a handful of mall executives standing around in the bathroom as she came through the door.
by CNB