Windermere leaders present updated restroom plans

Windermere Town Council leaders and members of the public met virtually Nov. 20 to continue discussions on the proposed restroom plans, which are part of the planned Town Hall renovations. 

Assistant Town Manager and Public Works Director Tonya Elliott-Moore said the plan started out as a project to renovate Town Hall and has since grown from there.

“The renovations are necessary to preserve this beautiful, historic facility, and we looked at many different iterations of that,” she said. “We’ve worked with historical preservation boards at the state and federal levels, and we’ve had experts on historic architecture help us with this process.”

At a Town Council workshop in July, council members opted unanimously, with Council Member Andy Williams absent, to move forward with the bathroom portion of the plan as the timeline with the highest priorities wile the rest of the renovations are solidified. 

At the meeting, Council Member Brandi Haines suggested looking into a unisex or family restroom concept, and Council Member Tony Davit asked staff to look into the process of developing a charter for the Town Hall project. 

Elliott-Moore said staff has completed both of those requests. 

“The purpose of this meeting, and the reason why the Town Council asked us to take this project back out, was to get more public input on these family restrooms,” she said. 

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UPDATED PLANS

Town Consultant John Fitzgibbon reviewed the updated restroom plans with residents. He said it’s important to understand the town has come a long way on the plans throughout many workshops, and the plan is in the early schematic phase. 

“If you look at the plans, you will see the restroom over in the top left corner,” he said. “Working with myself, our historic architect and Mr. (Stephen) Withers, we came up with a solution. There was an interim solution with a T-wall, but we actually pushed the restrooms farther away from the building for maintainability, as well as constructibility. In doing so, we’ve provided the addition of the family restroom … and we’ve flanked that family restroom with two vestibules, giving privacy into the bathrooms. In addition to the new design we came up with, we ended up putting the toilet fixtures back to back for construction efficiencies and then reworked the ADA ramp because of the slight shift of the building for maintenance and design appropriateness.”

“The reason why we chose this location for the standalone restroom was because when we were going through the issues with the pavilion and the community input with that, everyone appreciated the removal of the old restroom facility and the lack of a pavilion in the area because of all the green space that was added back into the Town Square area,” Elliott-Moore added. “We feel that where we are proposing the standalone restroom would not impact the green space … (Also), the folks on Forest (Street) said they actually now like to have views all the way through and see the green space instead of a building blocking their view of the Town Square area.”

Fitzgibbon said the location also is adjacent to the town’s ADA parking spots and is central core to the downtown district with access to services needed. 

Town staff has split the phasing recommendations for the renovations into three major parts: the new bathroom building (phase one); exterior renovations (phase two); and the north porch addition, existing bathroom renovations stage access and interior renovations (phase three).

Phase one is estimated at $418,240, which includes $30,000 for septic and contingency. The updates to the phase now include the option of adding on the family restroom, which would cost about $75,000, putting the new total cost of the first phase to $493,240.

Phase two is estimated at $556,850 in total, which includes the west porch/siding remediation, $81,360; repainting of the building, $44,950; the south sloped exterior roof, $106,350; the west sloped exterior roof, $191,340; and the main building reroof, $132,850. These updates are planned for 2025.

Phase three is estimated at $585,660, which includes the existing bathroom renovations, $187,700; the north porch addition, $349,120; the miscellaneous interior Town Hall renovations and pantry renovation, $18,600; and the stage access/lift/exterior door, $30,240. These updates are planned for 2026.

A 4% increase would need to be added for escalation per year. 

Town Planner Brad Cornelius, of Wade Trim, also presented the findings gathered from the Town Square Design Charrette Oct. 28, where residents participated in an open discussion to provide input on potential improvements to Town Square Park. Cornelius shared the town’s tree canopy and open green space, as well as the restrooms, were recognized as the items of the most importance. Read the Observer’s full story on the charrette here.

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RESIDENTS’ UNCERTAINTIES 

Mayor Jim O’Brien said there are many moving pieces and technicalities when it comes to the bathrooms and Town Hall plans. He said the town wants to ensure it has bathrooms that meet the needs of the town today and in the future and that do not affect the historical designation of Town Hall.

Resident Thellie Roper believes Town Hall should be renovated prior to the bathroom project, mostly because of the large cost. Another resident worried about the proposed location for the bathrooms and agreed with Roper, saying the town is “putting the cart before the horse.” Resident Karen Fay also agreed and asked why so many additional bathrooms are needed.

Withers said the location of the bathrooms is appropriate because this is the only piece of the site that could not be utilized for another purpose. As far as Town Hall updates, he has concerns about fire hazards. He suggests the new bathrooms be on a concrete block so they can be maintained and not be a fire hazard. He also said he would not change the design of the existing bathrooms. 

Resident Theresa Schretzmann-Myers does not want any bathrooms near the Town Hall building, as it is a national registered historic building. Resident Jangi Borhi agreed with Schretzmann-Myers about putting the bathrooms closer to the library. 

Fitzgibbon said moving the bathrooms to another location that is not adjacent to Town Hall would have added costs, including water lines, hardscape, meters, ADA walkways and electrical panels. Town Manager Robert Smith agreed, saying in all the discussions about the restrooms and Town Hall, residents have always expressed the importance of maintaining the open green space and preserving the trees. 

The project next will be discussed at the Dec. 10 Town Council meeting.