Monday, July 19, 2021

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #34 Binyan Clal Public Toilets Renovated

This is a continuation in my ongoing series about public toilets in Jerusalem. Your input is very welcome, thanks.

See #33#32
 #31#30#29#28#27#26#25#24,  #23#22#21#20#19#18#17#16#15a#15#14#13#12#11#10#9#8#7, #6#5, Saved by The First Station aka #4a#4#3#2 and #1.

On a recent trip to Jerusalem, I found myself in need of facilities when in the area of Machane Yehuda, aka "the shuq." After a year and a half of corona/COVID, lockdowns and rarely making it to that part of Jerusalem I feared the choices as being between "the devil and the deep blue sea." Not only is the shuq's WC hard to find, but it's rarely clean, and the last few times I had searched for one in Binyan Clal, most had been locked or in awful disrepair. 

So with great trepidation I entered Binyan Clal from "the back," aka Rechov Agrippas. At least that was my plan, but "the back" is no longer connected to the Rechov Yaffo building. The "KIACH Building" is now prettied up. In addition not only are the hallways closed off, but there were no WC signs at all. I had to exit and reenter from the side street near the Hobby craft shop.

Since I know that there are toilets built by the main elevators on each floor, that's where I went. In my experience, most had been locked, but there would be a sign indicating on which floor the WC was open to the public. I hit the jackpot on the first floor I tried, "C." Not only did the door open, but no nasty urinal odor greeted me. And even more surprising was the décor. As you can see, the public toilets have been renovated and look gorgeous. 



There was even toilet paper and soap!

It's really good to know that there's no reason to avoid the Clal Building when in the need...  And I like writing good news, since we all need the services, translation of the Hebrew for toilet שירותים sherutim. In the future, I'll try to check out the other floors. If you have more information, please add it in the comments, thanks.

7 comments:

Debbie Dan said...

REALLY appreciate this!!!!

Batya said...

Thank you, Debbie!

rutimizrachi said...

Excellent news! We were traveling in the City with a young lady, and I avoided the Clal Building because of previous experiences. Good to know that we can return to an easy and favorite spot to see a man about a horse!

Batya said...

Ruti, glad to have given you good news.
the management must really be trying to bring more stores and life into the building. Decent WCs is a key to bring in customers.

Bracha said...

Every time I've used the toilet in the shuk recently it has been very clean, with paper and soap. There is an attendant there all day (it's worth thanking her and maybe leaving a small tip).

Batya said...

Thanks, that's good to know. Mayor Lion has increased the budget for public toilets, which Nir Barkat had reduced.

Batya said...

Thank Gd