The Town of Tryon is moving forward with constructing restroom facilities at Rogers Park to serve as public restrooms for the town as well as for events at Rogers Park.
Tryon Town Council met last week and reviewed drawings and models created by local architect John Walters.
The town received a grant a couple of years ago to purchase the Massey building, which was formerly situated adjacent to Rogers Park. The original plan was for the town to renovate the building to house public restrooms in the bottom portion of the building and construct sleeping quarters for firefighters and emergency personnel during emergency sitations. Estimates on renovations to the old building escalated to over $100,000 and the town last year decided to demolish the building and instead construct separate restoom facilities.
The town has checked with grant officials to ensure the new restroom plan is sufficient. The town was awarded some time ago grant funds for the project and has approximately $60,000 left to complete the project.
Tryon Town Manager Justin Hembree said the town could put the project out for bid around April to have construction done prior to the summer concerts beginning.
The restroom model Walters designed is a 320 square foot building proposed to be simple, with wood and stone at the entrance and a metal roof. There are two water closets designed for the womens side and one water closet and one urinal for the mens side. The building will be heated, but not have air conditioning, only ventilation for the warmer months.
Some concerns were raised by council members regarding security of the building, particularly on how to prevent vandalism. The proposal now is for the restrooms to be open through the week during daylight hours with police officers locking the facility at night. The restrooms will also be open during Rogers Park and town events.