Public restrooms could be coming to downtown Nashville soon.
The nonprofit that oversees Nashville’s Downtown Central Business Improvement District, which will expand to cover nearly 550 acres in 2027 when The Gulch joins the fold, is readying a public planning process to decide where public restroom facilities may fit best in the area.
To make that happen, the Nashville Downtown Partnership is partnering with Nashville-based land use planning and development firm Pillars Development to launch a comprehensive planning initiative. The firm previously worked on the SoBro Master Plan, the Metro Nashville Parks Master Plan and the Imagine East Bank plan.
“Downtown Nashville continues to grow its residential and business communities while welcoming
millions of visitors each year,” a release from the Nashville Downtown Partnership reads. “Providing access to safe, clean and conveniently located public restrooms has emerged as an important component of creating a more welcoming, accessible and vibrant urban environment.
The Downtown Central Business Improvement District is one of several such districts in Nashville that use a special levy on residential and commercial property owners to fund services not provided by Nashville’s government, like street cleaning and private security.
According to the release, the planning process will include an assessment of existing conditions, analysis of potential restroom locations, operational and maintenance consideration and engagement with a range of stakeholders. From those pieces, the project team aims to develop recommendations that will guide future decisions on implementing public restroom facilities downtown.
The work’s funded through state dollars awarded as part of Gov. Bill Lee’s 2026 Downtown Public Safety Grant program. The downtown partnership partnered with the city to win $15 million in funds, though some proposed spending was met with heightened scrutiny as it worked toward approval from the Metro Nashville Council.
Any grant spending on the public restroom initiative will likely end up on a future council agenda. District 2 council member Kyonzté Toombs, the chair of the council’s Budget and Finance Committee, told members earlier this year that each spending request will need individual council approval.
Nashvillians will soon have an opportunity to learn more about the project’s goals and give feedback at a public meeting set for 6-7:30 p.m. Aug. 11 at Downtown Presbyterian Church, 154 Rep. John Lewis Way North. Community members can also learn more about the plan and submit feedback on the downtown partnership’s website.
“Thoughtful planning is essential to making impactful, long-term investments in our downtown,” Nashville Downtown Partnership President and CEO Tom Turner said in the release. “We are grateful to be partnering with Pillars on the engagement phase of this project to bring much-needed public restrooms to downtown Nashville.”
Austin Hornbostel is the Metro reporter for The Tennessean. Have a question about local government you want an answer to? Reach him with questions, tips and story ideas at ahornbostel@tennessean.com.
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Should downtown Nashville get public bathrooms? How to weigh in
