These toilets will cost even more than the notorious public toilet installed in Jēkabpils this year, worth €85,000 and called the 'golden lavatory' and a 'major tourism destination' by the locals. This is roughly the price of a suburban two-story house near Rīga, suggesting the council was flush with cash at the time.
The Riga City Council is reviewing the Home and Environment Department investment plan for the next two years. It includes a number of measures worth close to a total €50m - like connecting municipal properties to the sewer system.
It also includes a plan to erect two toilets in the Mežaparks neighborhood as well as Iļguciems, worth €180,000 within three years, and to restore the current ones for €41,000.
"A wooden toilet would cost below €10,000. If we build a modern one made abroad - a Czech or Chinese product - it will serve for a long time. Last time we chose Czech toilets. As you see they're beautiful and are operational for a long time, despite vandalism," said Anatolijs Aļeksejenko, the head of the department.
He did admit that Riga has a shortage of public toilets. There are none at Arkādijas parks or by the playground in Mežaparks as the city can't afford installing sewage systems there.
