Residents and volunteers at the Tent City for Change hoped that by bringing out a red ribbon, politicians might stop by for the ceremony to welcome two porta-potties to the encampment on Saturday afternoon – but no such luck.

The two porta-potties were delivered to the Colonial Building grounds on Friday evening. One was paid for by union, NAPE, the other through donations. One of the portable toilets was labelled ‘Danny Latrine’, a dig at St. John’s Mayor Danny Breen who told media on Thursday afternoon that he has not visited the Tent City.

Minister John Abbott visited after the ceremony and told residents and volunteers that plans are in the works for short term accommodations nearby that he hopes will be ironed out in the coming days, if not next week.

The City of St. John’s is reopening the bathrooms in Bannerman Park at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon and will extend the hours from the previous hours of 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. to now keeping them open 24 hours a day.

Despite the City’s decision to reopen the bathrooms, volunteers say they plan to keep the porta-potties onsite in case they Bannerman Park bathrooms close again.