SEBASTIAN – A new restroom facility at Schumann Park and a new office building for Skateboard Park are on the drawing table for Sebastian’s city leaders. They are considering spending $100,000 combined on the projects, which would come out of the city’s recreation budget.
The new office building at Skateboard Park would replace the current aluminum shed the city is using. The building would be relocated so the attendant would have a better view of the inside of the park. “I love the design of the building,” Councilwoman Andrea Coy said during a recent council meeting, after comparing the current structure to the proposed one.
The new building would be 500 square feet and would be in keeping with other city parks’ structures.
“I think it definitely beats what we have,” City Manager Al Minner said.
He currently has budgeted $50,000 for the office building but told council members that he expects the cost to be closer to $39,000. City leaders have discussed applying for a Clambake Foundation grant to help defray some of that cost.
Along with having the office relocated within the property, the structure would have covered entrances to provide skaters with some shelter from inclement weather. It would also better screen the vending machines from sight.
Councilman Eugene Wolff asked Minner what would become of the current aluminum shed, if the city would be able to reuse it elsewhere.
“We’ll recycle the aluminum,” Minner said. “It’s lived its day.”
Council members voted unanimously in favor of the Skateboard Park project, along with demolishing and rebuilding the restroom facilities at Schumann Park.
The restroom project is the last step in the planned renovations for the park.
“This restroom facility is horrible,” Councilman Don Wright said of the current structure. He called the proposed project the “finishing touch” on the park.
The new restroom building will be 600 square feet and will have to go before the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission for site plan approval.
Like the Skateboard Park office, the Schumann Park bathrooms will be relocated within the park. The bathroom building will be moved closer to the playground and so it can be better seen from Schumann Drive, Minner said.
Both the men’s and women’s facilities will have two “holes,” as Minner called them – two toilets in the women’s side and either two toilets or a toilet and urinal in the men’s room.
Councilman Wolff asked if water fountains could also be installed at the restroom facility. Issues with vandalism at the restrooms had led city staff to not plan for the fountains.
Public Works Director Jerry Converse said he hopes the relocation of the facilities would cut down on the vandalism and would try to incorporate the water fountains.
“I’m just pushing,” Wolff said.
