The restrooms at Evergreen Pool will get a $84,000 face lift after the city council on Monday approved the funds for substantial renovations that will make the bathhouses accessible for people with disabilities.
“I think getting some improvements at Evergreen Pool is long overdue,” said newly elected Councilwoman Mandy Nathan, who noted that the Parks Board proposed improvements long ago that were postponed for other things.
Evergreen Pool's bathhouses will undergo substantial renovations that will make them accessible for people with disabilities.
The $84,000 will pay for restroom fixtures that are compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act, removal of interior walls, installation of new partitions, a new janitor’s closet for supplies, and various other aesthetic improvements. Read more here.
Previously, Councilmen Pat McLaughlan and Jim Avioli were the most outspoken in urging the council to move ahead with improvements. At Monday’s meeting, Avioli again stressed the importance of making the restrooms ADA compliant, since many people with disabilities visit the Elaine Wood Therapy Pool.
“They can’t even get a drink of water,” Avioli said. The improvements will include ADA-compliant water fountains.
The council previously approved $17,000 for the bathhouses, and the city must now find a funding source for an additional $67,000. City Manager Bernie Satterwhite said the money could come from Bellaire’s capital improvement project fund, or from budget savings from other ongoing projects.
Councilman Will Hickman voted against the improvements. He said the council only recently passed the budget, and it was too soon to make changes. He questioned why the restroom improvements should be such a high priority.
“There are a lot of other needs in the city we said no to,” Hickman said.
But Council Members Peggy Faulk and Phil Nauert, who only moments before had sided with Hickman in voting against optional spending for the city’s new fire station, decided that this time the extra money was worth it.
“That bathhouse is despicable by Bellaire standards,” Faulk said. “It’s something that needs to be taken care of.”
