LOOK FOR THE NEW DOWNTOWN RESTROOMS TO BE OPEN FOR PUBLIC USE BY APRIL OR MAY OF NEXT YEAR
DOWNTOWN DISTRICT OFFICES WILL BE UPSTAIRS
THE CITY IS SPENDING $300 THOUSAND ON THE PROJECT
Right now, the door and walls, half a block off Main Street downtown, of the vacant building at e at 125 Fifth Avenue West are boarded up. But that two story commercial structure, which used to be a bank with a large vault in the back of it, is destined to see a lot of activity soon...as public restrooms for downtown Hendersonville.
Downtown Drector Lew Holloway tells WHKIP News that the structure next to Dandelion public eatery has been purchased by the city for public restroom and for the downtown department’s offices. The purchase was closed on July 20th...and the city, says Holloway, is working wih architects and stakeholders on the conceptual design of that new facility.
Holloway says bid documents probably won’t go out now until early October...so the project won’t be awarded to a contractor before the November city council meeting. A construction schedule will be planned to cover a 90 to 180 day time frame,...which means it will be April or May of 2019, and the early days of NEXT YEAR’S tourist season, before the ribbon is cut and he new facility is officially opened for public use..
As a public restroom facility, Holloways says the city wants it to be as attractive and accommodating as possible and the city is talking to other communities who have public restroom on ways to make them as secure for the public as possible.
The city is spending $300 thousand on the project, which will include the public restrooms on the ground floor and the upper floor offices.
Holloway says the city is “...targeting three components...a male restroom, a female restroom, and a family unit which will be a stand alone individual unit.” “We’re hoping to get between 12 and 13 total restroom facilities and then also a “mini visitor center” type entrance way with brochures, water fountains, and access to the restrooms.”, said Holloway.
He said he expects a facility of that size to accommodate 99.9 per cent of the use they see on Main Street, and there will be times, like Garden Jubilee and Apple Festival, when they’ll have larger crowds using the facilities...and they’re looking at having an on-site attendant during those larger events when they may have a line out the door.
“We are looking at ways to make the new facility more prominently visible”, said Holloway. That will include signage on the building identifying public restrooms located there, as well as signage at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Main Street to give directions to the new facility. Some signs may go in the upper windows soon, he said, to indicate that public restrooms are coming
“We don’t currently have plans for additional public restrooms in the downtown district”, Holloway said...”but we’ll re-evaluate the need for more on an annual basis.”
By Larry Freeman and Tippy Creswell
