Special to the Reporter

Farrel-McWhirter Park and its small animal farm is one of the most heavily visited parks in the City of Redmond park system.

A new, updated restroom will be constructed this fall to handle a large number of visitors to the park.

The Redmond Parks and Recreation Department will begin the construction process in mid-September with the removal of the existing silo restroom, followed by installation of a new building. The old restroom has become increasingly difficult to maintain and has to be closed every winter due to the lack of heat in the building. Construction is scheduled to be completed in early November.

“The new restroom building will provide modern, updated facilities while at the same time honoring the look and character of the historic farm buildings at the park,” said Mayor John Marchione.

The new building is a prefabricated structure built in a factory off-site. The building foundation and utility preparation will take approximately four weeks, and then the building is delivered to the site and installed in three days. The restroom will include men’s, women’s and family facilities, as well as an outdoor hot water hand washing facility for children to use after they’ve visited the farm park’s resident animals.

“We’re excited about the new restroom. Not only does it provide the sanitary hot water hand washing facility to keep the kids clean and healthy, but it’s going to look great,” said Park Planner Betty Sanders “Once the building is in, it will fit well with the original farm buildings.”

A prefabricated structure was selected to save costs, but more importantly to limit impacts to park visitors.

“Traditional construction of a new building would have taken about six months,” said Construction Project Manager Eric Dawson. “Bringing in a pre-fabricated structure allows us to be in and out in less than two months.”

For more information about the project, visit: www.redmond.gov/FMParkRestroom