In a sign of the impending Mardi Gras season, barricades have begun to line sections of downtown Mobile's main parade route. These are shown along Washington Avenue near the Ben May Main Library.Lawrence Specker | LSpecker@AL.com

Mobile took another step toward the return of Mardi Gras on Tuesday with the approval of a contract for portable toilets in the downtown parade zone -- and, as with most everything else, prices have gone up.

In its Tuesday meeting, the Mobile City Council approved a contract sponsored by Mayor Sandy Stimpson for $54,752.50 with Pot-O-Gold rentals. There was no discussion of the contract, which like the recent appearance of barricades along portions of the parade route, is a yearly precursor of revelry to come.

No parades were held in Mobile in 2021. The amount of the new contract represents a 24% increase over the 2020 contract for $44,170, which also went to Pot-O-Gold. That was a slight decrease from 2019′s $44,913 deal with A&M Portables -- but when that 2019 contract was awarded, it had represented a 48% jump from A&M’s winning 2018 bid of $30,422. Overall, that’s an 80% increase in five years.

Specific details of the number of units covered by the contract weren’t yet available, according to a spokesman for the administration. The pattern in recent years has been to deploy more than 100 standard units and a dozen handicapped units just prior to the start of downtown Mobile’s parading season, with nearly 100 more units added before the peak weekend leading up to Fat Tuesday. This year the Conde Cavaliers will open the downtown parading season on Feb. 11, and Fat Tuesday falls on March 1.

In other Mardi Gras business, the council approved a purchase order Jan. 4 for $10,302 for MoonPies and beads to be thrown from a city float.

Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.

Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your California Privacy Rights (User Agreement updated 1/1/21. Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement updated 5/1/2021).

© 2022 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local.

Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site.