The City of Moscow is working to replace the East City Park portable restrooms with an attractive and vandal-resistant restroom facility as soon as possible.
Hayden Crosby | Argonaut
Gram Connley, 6 years old, plays on the bars of an old stage attached to the original restrooms at East City Park. The stage suffered arson damage in 2009 and will be repaired once the new restroom structure is completed
Parks and Recreation Director Dwight Curtis said the portable restrooms filling in for the restrooms damaged by arson in 2009 are not appropriate for the location, and the new facility is toward the top of the city’s agenda.
“It’s our flagship park, everything takes place (there), and having Porta-Potties as our restroom facility really looks bad,” Curtis said.
The stage attached to the original restrooms also suffered arson damage, but has remained operational.
The city contracted Design West Architects in Pullman to develop a new stage and restroom structure in 2010, but the project proved too expensive, Curtis said. He said the operation was split in two, with the restrooms first in line.
The old restrooms will be removed and the stage repaired once the new restroom structure is completed, he said.
“By separating the project into two phases, we get the restrooms sooner and everybody gets what they want without having to wait for funding to continue,” Curtis said.
He said the new facility will be “as fireproof as we can make it,” and the design will emphasize protection from vandalism and an aesthetic style that suits the park’s environment.
The building will have a split-face block exterior with a three-stall women’s room, a men’s room with one stall and two urinals and a one-toilet family changing room. Non-combustible materials will comprise the structure, and the floors and inside walls will be painted for simple removal and repair of graffiti.
Curtis said the city is still waiting on Design West Architects for details.
“(They are) great to work with,” he said. “They’re local so they know what we’re about as the City of Moscow.”
The restroom facility is slated for completion next spring.
Matt Maw can be reached at [email protected]