Round Hill restroom renovations postponed

Apr 10, 2017

Parks and Recreation Director Tim Lancaster had hoped that beach-goers would have a new restroom facility at Round Hill this June, but that project will be put on hold.

Town Meeting voters had appropriated $220,000 for the project, based on an architect's estimate, but the one and only bid came in at $123,000 more than that. Now, officials need Town Meeting voters to appropriate more money for the project before it can move forward.

The Acushnet-based Aruajo Brothers was the only company to bid on the project, and estimated it to cost $343,000. That price included $45,000 for paint and $13,000 to replace the building's dome. The original estimate — completed by the Fairhaven-based Stephen Kelleher Architects, Inc. — had valued the paint job at $15,244 and dome replacement at $7,361.

"The project will be re-bid, and work will occur this Fall or next Spring in order to provide more flexibility to the contractor in scheduling the work," said Town Administrator David Cressman via email.

During its April 7 meeting, the Capital Improvement Planning Committee recommended that voters approve an extra $100,000 for the project, but the Financial Committee and June Town Meeting voters must also pass the proposal, said Cressman.

Plans for the structure were unveiled in February. The current restrooms were built in the 1970s, and although renovations were done in the ‘90s, the capacity was not upgraded to handle growing popularity at the beach, said Lancaster in a previous interview.

Kelleher had a $25,000 contract, leaving $195,000 for renovation work.