‘Ding’ Darling takes the throne: Voted America’s Best Restroom
The Learning Lavatories at the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge’s Visitor & Education Center on Sanibel has been voted the winner of the 2018 America’s Best Restroom contest.
Cintas Corporation announced the results on Oct. 22 at a special press conference.
“We’re thrilled that the public is as wild about our restrooms as we are,” Supervisory Refuge Ranger Toni Westland said. “As one of 566 national wildlife refuges around the country, we saw the restrooms as a major missed opportunity for educating visitors, which is why our new Learning Lavatories encourage visitors to become entirely immersed in refuge habitat and wildlife. We are the first in the entire national refuge system to have a restroom like this, and winning this award is a real honor.”
Cintas revealed the 10 contest finalists on Aug. 6 and opened voting to the public through Sept. 18 on its website. In the finalist round, “Ding” Darling was up against nine other restrooms in towns and cities from Green Bay, Wisconsin, to Chicago and New York City.
“We encouraged visitors and fans of the refuge to vote,” Birgie Miller, executive director of the “Ding” Darling Wildlife Society-Friends of the Refuge said. “We even had entire classrooms voting for us locally and as far away as Kansas.”
DDWS raised the funds to turn the restrooms into an artistic, educational exhibit.
As the winner, “Ding” Darling received a banner and plaque to signify its “ascent to the throne.” Cintas also awarded the refuge the “revered restroom treatment,” which includes $2,500 in Cintas products and services for restroom cleaning or facility management.
The judging criteria for the contest included cleanliness, visual appeal, innovation, functionality and unique design elements.
“We clearly led in every one of those categories – especially innovation and unique design,” Westland said. “I guarantee, there’s no other restrooms like these in the world that are so devoted to wildlife conservation and environmental awareness.”
Funded by a $125,000 grant from the West Coast Inland Navigation District and contributions from private donors, the Learning Lavatories debuted in October 2017. It features educational imagery inside the lavatories and on the outdoor wall leading to them. The outdoor wall and ceiling mural immerses visitors in a virtual underwater experience, where they come eye-to-eye with 3-D manatees and look up to see an alligator and other wildlife sculptures swimming overhead.
Inside, the lavatories were renovated to green standards and continue the interpretive underwater motif, featuring a photo-tile mangroves mural and more wildlife sculptures. Stall doors are wrapped with close-up professional photographs of refuge birds and identification information. Educational teaser messages were designed to entice visitors into the free Visitor & Education Center to learn more.
“Besides educating visitors about our wildlife and habitat, the restrooms emphasize the importance of water quality and water itself as a vital resource to our livelihood and local economy,” Westland said. “We bus more than 8,000 students a year to the refuge. First stop is always the restroom. Now the learning experience can begin immediately.”
The project showcases the work of two artists. Sanibel’s Andrew Corke fashioned a mother and baby manatee out of recycled bike tires, while North Carolina artist David Williams sculpted other creatures from foam and fiberglass. He also painted the murals’ lifelike sculptures and one-dimensional aspects.
“We like to say that the restrooms have turned a ‘nature call’ into a ‘nature enthrall,'” Refuge Manager Paul Tritaik said.
For more information, visit www.bestrestrooms2018.com.