THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 14, 1996 TAG: 9606130166
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LORI A. DENNEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 41 lines
Summer visitors to the popular Kids Cove playground at Mount Trashmore may notice something missing.
The bathroom facility adjacent to the playground has been razed and in its stead sits a row of portable restrooms.
In the fall, however, they will be hauled away and a new, handicapped accessible restroom building will open.
The old facilities, built when the park was erected in 1974, were recently torn down to make way for the new 1,200-square-foot facility that will offer expanded services and more room to guests.
The new men's room will feature two toilets, three urinals and a diaper changing station.
The women's room will be expanded from two toilets to seven and will also include a diaper changing station.
Adjacent to the building will also be vending machines, a water fountain, and pay telephones in an area that will be secured at night when the park is closed.
Cost for the new building is around $157,000, said Richard T. Nutter, a parks district supervisor with the Parks and Recreation Department.
The new building's foundation has been laid and the walls are currently being erected out of block. The lower half will be painted gray while the upper half will be tan.
``We tried to keep it aesthetically pleasing, though it's a very functional building for us,'' said Nutter, who has worked with the department since 1975.
Park officials hope to also expand the restrooms on the other side of the mountain, near Lake Trashmore. That building will not be torn down, but it will be expanded to include more stalls and will also be handicapped accessible.
The work is necessary because the park's attendance keeps growing, Nutter said.
From July 1994 through June 1995, the park played host to 855,500 guests, and parks officials said that the attendance number will continue to rise.
The new restroom plans will conform with the standards set by the Americans With Disabilities Act. by CNB