No. 1 priority: keep restrooms open

Danette Goulet

BALBOA ISLAND -- If you gotta go, you can still go -- at least until

September, when the restrooms go.

The remodeling of the decaying public bathrooms -- described by one

city official as resembling “a prison structure” -- near the Balboa

Island Ferry landing has been delayed again.

The move will keep tourists from experiencing extra pressures during

the height of this summer season.

After the Newport Beach city manager’s office received an influx of

letters last week criticizing the timing of the remodeling -- scheduled

for Aug. 14 through Sept. 29 -- officials pushed the construction dates

back again.

The six weeks of construction will now begin Sept. 18, said David

Niederhause, general services director for the city. The new restrooms

will feature a cupola to match the pavilion’s across the bay, a weather

vane and flagpoles.

“The ferry operator is saying we’re going to be in his way too much

during the season,” Niederhause said. “Some passengers from out of town

began writing to the city manager asking why we had to do this during the

summer.”

But the summer construction dates were the result of several setbacks,

Niederhause said, beginning with a lack of funding.

“Originally, it was supposed to start a year ago March, but there was

no money for it,” he said. “It was like the stepchild project that could

never get on the capital improvement list.”

Once city officials managed to drum up the funds, they found that the

job was bigger than they thought due to the age and condition of the

building.

And so what was supposed to be a quick remodel to make the facility

compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act became a nearly

unending saga.

After wheeling and dealing with carpenters and electricians, and

crunching city numbers to come up with the $50,000 for materials, they

were ready to go at the end of June, Niederhause said.

It was then that Seymour Beek, owner of the Balboa Ferry, went to

Newport Beach Mayor John Noyes asking that the project be delayed until

the tourist season passed.

“It’s just one of those things,” said Noyes who arranged the later

date of Aug. 24 with Niederhause. “Originally, we were going to have

things done before summer.”

Some local business owners, however, were unconcerned with the season

and said they wished the city would just get the job done.

“It’ll be nice to finally have it cleaned up,” said John Doughty,

owner of JD’s Big Game Tackle. “It’s a shame it didn’t get done before,

but a year from now it will be the best thing that ever happened.”

It may be a long time in coming, but the new facility will be well

worth the wait, Niederhause said.

With the help of a $1,000 donation from the Balboa Island Improvement

Assn. and the donation of two benches and a flagpole from the Balboa

Island Beautification Committee, the new facility will be much more

pleasing to the eye.

“It will be a completely new building with a couple of the old walls,”

Niederhause said. “It will be attractive compared to the prison structure

it is now.”