Hutchinson’s Strataca in running for America’s Best Restroom

A restroom built into the underground walls at Strataca, the underground salt museum in Hutchinson, just might be the most wonderful place to relieve yourself in the entire country. It’s one of 10 finalists in a competition by Cintas corporation, which sells bathroom supplies and cleaning services.

The restroom was selected after an online nomination process based on its “cleanliness, visual appeal, innovation, functionality and unique design elements.” If you agree that this toiletry is the top facility in the country, you can vote for it until October 31.

Last year the “Bowl Plaza” in Lucas, a meta-restroom shaped like a toilet, finished in second place. Strataca’s main competitive advantage is that it is located 650 feet underground and carved into a stratified salt bed that is 275 million years old.

But the competition in the 14th annual contest is formidable. Strataca will have to beat out the 50-foot “Tall Toilet,” one bathroom that is built into a Charleston whiskey barrel, another loo that dubs itself art first and sanitizer second, a Music Hall restroom with Tiffany style, two swanky restaurant relief spots in San Diego and Miami, and a ballpark changing facility for moms that includes a kitchenette, storage lockers and flat screen TVs.

“Winning the contest would provide public recognition of our team’s hard work,” former director of operations at Strataca Gayle Ferrell said in Cintas’ press release. “We have something here that is totally unique in North America – both our underground restrooms and our amazing, passionate staff.”

This story was originally published September 10, 2015 at 9:54 AM with the headline "Hutchinson’s Strataca in running for America’s Best Restroom."