If exquisite horticultural displays and an expansive Meadow Garden don’t entice area residents to visit Longwood Gardens, perhaps potty prominence will tip the scale.
After a succession of awards ranging from the region’s best mushroom soup to the nation’s best public garden, Longwood’s newest accolade could constitute a royal flush. On Wednesday, Nov. 19, Cintas Corporation, a purveyor of restroom programs and supplies, announced that Longwood Gardens bested nine other finalists in the company’s 2014 online best restroom competition.
Longwood’s eco-designed “green wall” facilities received the most votes in the nationwide contest. “We’re excited to announce Longwood Gardens as the 2014 Cintas’ America’s Best Restroom,” said Cintas’ Senior Marketing Manager John Engel. “The team at Longwood has proven it understands the value of a restroom that’s creative and memorable for guests.”
Longwood’s Green Wall – one of North America’s largest at 14 feet high and 300 feet long – is tucked into a fern-filled corner of the East Conservatory. Designed to resemble a lush jungle, it features 17 private restrooms, including three family-friendly bathrooms with changing areas, 12 unisex bathrooms, and two with handicapped accessibility. The bathrooms also feature etched translucent glass at the top of a domed ceiling to create an environmentally efficient operation that includes natural lighting and motion-activated faucets.
Remarking that the public chose Longwood as having “the best loos in the land,” Engel joined Danny Rubin, Cintas’ survey editor for the contest, to deliver the 2014 award to Longwood on Wednesday during a brief presentation in front of the winning facilities.
Bowled over with pride, Chief Marketing Officer Marnie Conley accepted the recognition, crediting the Longwood staff with maintaining the restrooms’ high standards.
“Longwood Gardens is about beautiful horticulture, being a good steward to our environment, and providing an extraordinary experience for our more than one million guests each year, ” Conley said.
Conley, filling in for Paul B. Redman, Longwood’s executive director, said that the restroom’s famous green wall “has become a “must-see destination” for guests. She said many have never seen a green wall and have questions about its upkeep. “It’s the only restroom with its own docents,” she said.
Prompted by the need for “more restrooms for more guests,” Conley said the construction on the green wall restroom compound began in the fall of 2009 and was completed a year later. The 4,072-square-foot complex boasts 3,590 planted panels; 47,000 plants representing 25 species; and 3,900 linear feet of irrigation drip line.
For the 13th consecutive year, a team of Cintas editors scanned the country to come up with contenders for the most creative and cleanest public restrooms. Rubin said the team often learns about possible competitors because an organization seeks a nomination. However, that did not occur with Longwood, he said.
Engel recalled that a Longwood guest had written a review on Yelp. He said when someone takes the time to chronicle a positive experience with a public bathroom, “we better check it out.”
Rubin said he got in touch with Patricia Evans, Longwood’s communications manager, to see if the garden was interested in participating. “Why not?” Evans remembered thinking. “Everything here is beautiful.”
As the 2014 winner, Longwood Gardens will receive a $2,500 credit to spend on Cintas services, such as restroom cleaning and supplies, or wet mops for their restroom floors.
