The Washington Parks Department has spent this spring checking items off their to-do list. Staff has finished and opened a new set of restrooms and a concession stand next to the soccer fields at the Washington Wellness Park. This will serve not only the soccer fields on the grounds but serve as an amenity for people using the trail, sand volleyball pit and accessible playset. Nick Pacha, Superintendent of the Washington Parks Department, spoke with KCII News about the work his team has done to complete the project and what is contained there, “Bids came back terribly high. We couldn’t justify spending $300,000 on that project so we decided to take it on in-house. The Parks Department has been the general contractor for the project. Our Public Works Department and our Building Maintenance staff have been helping out with that. (The facility) has two restrooms, concession stands and a storage area, and it sits between the parking lot and the soccer fields. We’ve local contractors as much as possible for HVAC, electrical, plumbing, concrete. It’s been good!”

While that project is finished, another in the public eye is hitting the home stretch. Work began on a new restroom facility in Central Park on the Washington square late in the fall. It is replacing the previous facility built in 1984. Pacha says that the initial thought was to do a remodel of the previous facility but they decided to do a full tear down and rebuild it. He talks about the process and what new building will contain, “We’re switching it up from stick-frame to a cinderblock structure to be a little more sturdy, hopefully get a little more life out of it, easier for maintenance. The walls have gone up quickly. Now they’re working on putting the trusses on and start getting the roof on and the keep moving on from there. A nice thing is too, we’re increasing one of the restrooms, so we’re going to have a men’s, women’s and family. So that will open up a little more access and hopefully alleviate some of the lines for some of the events. It will be a great addition to the park.”

May 23rd is the target completion date on the Central Park project so it is accessible during Washington’s Ridiculous Days.