Port to update waterfront restrooms

These plans will include concept drawings and schematic plan alternatives for both restrooms, as well as general advice on scope subjects, to be completed by Dec. 30, 2018.

The Marina restrooms were built in 1998 and the Event Site’s in 2001. Both buildings have received maintenance and upgrades throughout the years, but the buildings need a more extensive remodel to handle the increased usage over the last five years.

The Marina restrooms need to be updated in order to comply with ADA requirements, said Waterfront and Marina Manager Daryl Stafford in a commission memo. She also noted that they are heavily used in the summer months and are the only restrooms on the waterfront with public showers.

“Each restroom has a shower, so they receive heavy use all summer long as they serve the Marina tenants and the general public. We would like to reconfigure to accommodate all users in each restroom,” she said.

The Event Site restroom simply needs to be upgraded to accommodate increased use.

“The Event Site restroom needs to be expanded, either by a remodel or a new build,” Stafford said. “The increase in usage has put a large demand on the existing structure, and port-a-potties have been a short-term solution.”

Several of the commissioners said they were in favor of remodeling the Event Site restroom instead of rebuilding it.

Port Director Michael McElwee recommended adding a couple of additional wings to the Event Site restroom specifically for changing rooms, which could help ease the restroom traffic, and Stafford agreed that changing stalls could be “part of the solution.”

Commission Treasurer Ben Sheppard said that he liked the idea of adding changing stalls, and said that he wouldn’t mind the idea of an extensive remodel. “I think providing a secure and private place to change for both sexes is a significant and prominent responsibility of ours,” Sheppard said.

The Event Site restrooms are “either evacuated or maxed-out with no in-between” said McElwee, which makes it difficult to decide how much to invest.

The port has a capital outlay of $25,000 budgeted for these two projects, though exact amounts for each haven’t been specified. “That will depend on what upgrades are decided upon,” Stafford said. “That ($25,000) is the total amount for this year, any work to be done in addition to that will have to be in our next fiscal year,” she said.