New bathrooms necessary at baseball complex
ADA requirements not being met
Staff reporter
A pristine baseball complex deserves pristine bathrooms.
That was the message Marion Recreation Commission Director Margo Yates sent to Marion City Council at Monday's meeting.
She reminded the council that Marion was hosting a baseball tournament this summer that is probably the largest tournament to ever come to this county.
Meeting ADA (American Disabilities Act) requirements for the bathrooms is another reason for new facilities, Yates said. She recalled this past summer when a man could not use the bathroom facility because his wheelchair wouldn't fit through the door.
"We're complimented all of the time on the baseball complex," Yates said, "until visitors use the bathrooms."
City building inspector Marty Fredrickson said the bathroom doorways have to be widened and there has to be a five-foot clearance for wheelchairs to turn around.
City planning commission chairman Roger Schwab said he was a former ADA compliance officer.
"One of the problems is capacity," he said, with a certain number of bathroom stalls for handicapped people. He continued that the current structure could not be modified to sufficiently become compliant.
Yates said the women's bathroom has a shower curtain for a door, similar to the situation in the bathrooms at Central Park.
Councilman Gene Winkler suggested the existing bathrooms be converted to dressing rooms and building a new bathroom facility.
Yates was instructed to obtain cost estimates for several different options and present at a future meeting.
