Bathrooms proposed for future splash pad
Published 1:00 am Monday, April 17, 2017
The Albert Lea Parks and Recreation Department Advisory Board is expected to discuss placing a restroom near the site of a planned splash pad on Tuesday.
The board is expected to discuss the possibility of placing a restroom on Washington Avenue, west of the planned splash pad. The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Albert Lea Senior Center, 1739 W. Main St. The splash pad will be west of the intersection of Broadway Avenue and Fountain Street.
Parks Superintendent Joe Grossman said Tuesday’s meeting will focus on preliminary discussions on the possible restroom. He said he supports the plan but noted the city has to have the funding for it.
“The council gets to make those decisions,” he said.
Albert Lea Farmers Market advocate Verlys Huntley will discuss the splash pad and proposed restroom to the board.
Huntley said restrooms would be beneficial for the downtown Farmers Market, which begins May 17 in the downtown area. The market will run from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Wednesdays downtown and from 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays at Northbridge Mall.
“With the splash pad, it kind of makes sense, because these kids are in the water playing,” she said.
“We don’t want them going (to the bathroom) in the water.”
Jets of water are planned to flow from the ground at the splash pad, and a fence will be installed. Splash pad site construction is expected to take two weeks and is set to begin in May.
The splash pad project was made possible after a committee of residents met an initial fundraising goal to order the project. The committee has raised more than $133,000 through monetary donations and commitments of in-kind labor.
The Albert Lea City Council gave the green light for the group of volunteers to begin fundraising for the project in February 2016.