By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — The Town Council last night gave its blessing for a larger public restroom building on Hall Park that would include storage space for the Farmers Market. Previously, the preferred plan was for a smaller bathroom structure on the Veterans Field side of the parking lot.
The new restroom facility will be paid for mainly with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds as part of a larger project to revamp the parking lot between Veterans Field and Hall Park. The overall project has a budget of $875,000. The work is scheduled for next spring.
Town Engineer Bill Renault and DPW Director Joseph Conway were at last night’s Town Council meeting to discuss the latest plan.
Renault explained that the larger building on Hall Park will cost about $300,000 more than a smaller building on the Veterans Field side. The larger option can still be done within the budget, Renault explained, but some of the ancillary work, such as replacing the walkways in Hall Park, may have to be postponed or shifted to other funding sources.
The new prefabricated building will include two single occupancy, unisex bathrooms. There will be a water bubbler attached to the building and the approved design calls for an overhang in the front so that people can get out of the elements if necessary. The building will be maintained by the DPW.
Renault also reviewed the planned reconstruction of the Veterans Field parking lot. He showed the layout of the current lot along with the proposed new design. The lot presently has three handicapped parking spaces but four are required, plus a space for a handicapped van. The new design would meet all those requirements and provide six more total parking spaces than the current lot.
The center island would be removed and replaced with a bioretention area to treat storm water runoff from the parking area. The walking path at the end of the parking lot closest to the Lake would also be improved.
In advocating for the larger building, Town Councilor Edward Dombroski noted that the proposed Hall Park site currently has the Farmers Market storage container, plus a large stand of shrubs and overgrowth. The proposed bathroom structure would occupy about the same amount of space, he observed.
Councilor Michael McLane also favored the larger bathroom facility sited in Hall Park, noting that it offered better sight lines for viewing the Lake from several different angles than either of the other options presented.
Councilor Anne Danehy also favored the larger building on Hall Park.
Town Councilor Julie Smith-Galvin said that she did not have a strong preference but wanted to get input from the Conservation Commission to make sure that the overgrown stand of shrubbery wasn’t filling some important need.
Smith-Galvin had previously advocated for putting solar panels on top of any of the bathroom structure options. Conway said that the larger building on the Hall Park side would be better suited to solar than either of the other two options.
One advantage of building the larger building with storage space for the Farmers Market would be the elimination of the current storage container on Hall Park used by the Farmers Market. Chairman Jonathan Chines observed that the container, painted with murals, is a piece of “public art.” He wanted that taken into consideration when removing the container.
The Town Council voted unanimously to approve the project including the larger restroom facility in Hall Park.