City thinking about how to move forward with public restrooms 

 

SALUDA—Saluda officials have some things to think about after bids for Pace Park restrooms came in around $100,000 over what officials were expecting.  

The Saluda Board of Commissioners met Monday and heard from city manager Jonathan Cannon, who said the low bid came in at $179,000 and the other was $229,000 for public restrooms downtown.  

Saluda Mayor Fred Baisden thanked the contractors for the bids, and said that is about $100,000 more than he and Cannon thought it would be. He said city finance officer Julie Osteen said she thought they would come in around $200,000, so she was right.  

Baisden said estimates were made about 5-6 years ago, that it could cost about $59,000 to build the restrooms.  

“I would say we have to digest it for a while,” Baisden said.  

Cannon said the Saluda Business Association wants to make the public restrooms their main fundraising efforts, so city officials need to speak with them.  

The city sent out requests for proposals on the Pace Park restrooms last month to know whether the city can begin building them or not.  

The Saluda Downtown Business Association/Saluda Downtown Foundation has publicly said it wants to focus on raising funding for the restrooms.  

As of last month, Saluda has raised over $17,000 for the restrooms so far, including from the SBA, the city and Coon Dog Day profits.  

The quote to construct the slab for the restrooms was $11,000.  

The city has planned for years to construct public restrooms in Pace Park. The city is taking donations and using other ways to construct the restrooms, including profits from Coon Dog Day festivals annually. The restrooms are planned to include separate men’s and women’s restrooms with sinks.  

The women’s restroom is proposed to have three stalls and a changing station and the men’s to have two stalls, two urinals and a changing station. The plans approved a couple of years ago also include a utility closet and both restrooms being ADA compliant.  

The design is for 336-square foot.  

The restrooms are proposed to be located towards the rear of Pace Park, which was created in an alleyway downtown.  

Anyone wishing to donate funding for the new restrooms can contact city hall at 828-749-2581.