Plans for the renovation of one of Lacy Park’s restrooms remain in limbo after councilmembers expressed their uneasiness at moving forward with the project at the Oct. 27 adjourned regular meeting.
The project, presented by Parks and Public Works Director/City Engineer Michael Throne, encompasses renovations within the existing late-1980s structure that will “modestly integrate into the rest of the park.”
Bids for the project were accepted beginning on Sept. 27, with the lowest bid coming in at $337,800 – at least 25 percent more than the city budgeted for the project.
“This project is not without its challenges,” Throne said. “First we are trying to squeeze a lot more facility into the same structure. It’s old and things that were done in the day…a lot of times you don’t know what you are going to find until you find it. There’s also a water supply issue, and parks maintenance folks say we have a limited amount of supply, and we are adding more fixtures. This might need to be improved…there may be issues downstream, like manhole issues…that we may encounter during construction.”
The project would fit the existing footprint and mimic the 1920s restroom using durable and maintainable contemporary materials including engineered stone and a mission style roof. It would also include nearly half as many restroom fixtures that will take the place of a storage area to increase usability.
Throne was not involved in the planning for the structure as he joined the city in late September. He spoke honestly about the plans when asked by city councilmembers and shared information on options along with his concerns.
City councilmembers listened to Throne’s explanation, and then followed directly with their own concerns.
“This is not a historical structure and it seems like we haven’t taken everything into consideration,” Councilman Steve Talt said. “We need something there, we need something better, but I’m not getting thoughts from you that this is what’s best.”
“Approaching this project and not having much history on it at all, I think some good questions to be are: ‘Do you want this restroom here? What is the need? … Do you want to renovate or build from scratch?’”
Citizens and Mayor Richard Sun’s concerns narrowed in on cost savings for the project.
“I think you can do it for a lot less money, I can build it for a fraction of the price,” citizen Gene Ruckh, a consistent council meeting attendee, said.
San Marino resident Gretchen Shepherd Romey echoed Ruckh’s comments.
“I understand this is a beautiful restroom, and I would love to have it installed in my own home,” Romey said. “No matter how much we would like to complete this project, we cannot proceed with this inappropriate renovation, the other restroom needs to be considered too.”
Sun ultimately asked the Parks and Public Works Department for an in-depth review of building materials, stating he believed more cost savings could be realized.
“The project has lasted for 4 years,” Sun said. “What is the cost savings? I believe there is more we can save.”
The council’s decision to review materials means the lowest bid for the project was rejected, the most recent to be submitted following two previous bidding periods.
