The infamous $1.7 million toilet that became a symbol of bloated bureaucracy, which was replaced with a much less expensive, prefab option, has now become a reality in Noe Valley Town Square.

It was scheduled to be up and running last month, but as with all things in San Francisco, there were some delays. But now, on April 21, the city and the neighborhood will celebrate the opening of the Noe Valley Town Square public toilet, and they're really leaning into the negative publicity that this project attracted.

The event is called "The Toilet Bowl," as seen in the flyer below, and it's cheekily billed as "A blowout celebration of our world-renowned toilet."

The public event, taking place from 1 pm to 3:30 pm on April 21, will feature a "toilet paper costume contest," live music, a craft table, a yoga demo "to activate digestion," and a "toilet bowl toss," whatever that means.

The event is being co-sponsored by the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development and the Rec & Parks department, and Supervisor Rafael Mandelman will be on hand to make some potty-related remarks.

"It’s taken a lot longer than anyone would have hoped, but it is very much needed," Mandelman said of the project. "Many thanks are due to Assemblymember Haney for finding the funding in the first place."

You may recall that this very San Francisco controversy blew up thanks to the Chronicle's Heather Knight back in October 2022, when she reported on the absurd $1.7 million pricetag attached to a seemingly simple project to build a single public restroom in the tiny town square. Assemblymember Matt Haney got state funds approved for the project, but things became complicated as public outrage grew over where this money was going — largely to things like architect's fees and bureaucratic hurdles like a "multi-phase" design review, not to mention a CEQA review.

Governor Gavin Newsom ended up stepping in to freeze the funds that were already signed off on, seeing the absurdity himself. And within a couple of months, we had word that a Nevada company was donating a prefab public toilet structure, and that the pricetag for the installation and reviews was now down to $300,000. Still seems like a lot of money given that the building itself is paid for, but that's how it goes.

Fast-forward a full year and a half from when the project was first green-lighted, and Noe Valley denizens finally have a place to relieve themselves in their popular little park.

The little red structure, as seen in the tweet-video below, arrived in early March, but apparently it takes six weeks to get everything hooked up and tested, or whatever.