The City of Delta has issued a request for bids to construct a new washroom facility at Memorial Park in Ladner.
The existing washroom building is to be demolished, with a new modern building built in its place.
A condition assessment was carried out by a consultant in 2020 for 33 city park washrooms and fieldhouses.
That assessment recommended the washroom buildings at Ladner Lions Park and Memorial Park be replaced as they were at the end of their lifecycles.
The report also noted that the design and construction of other park washrooms, including the ones at Cromie Park and Gunderson Park, are proposed for subsequent years.
A previous report to council on the state of the city’s park washrooms noted, “These older facilities do not have the ventilation systems that are required by today’s modern building code. The floors are stained through years of use and emit odours that are embedded in the old concrete flooring. Many of the sites are not accessible for those with mobility limitations.”
When it comes to the replacement costs, they won’t come cheap, as seen with council last year awarding a $597,671 contract to replace the structure at Ladner Lions Park.
The awarded contract was the lowest of the six bids received, as the highest came in at $959,309.
The replacement had been designed with four universal single-occupancy stalls, with accessibility features and robust construction materials to minimize damage from vandalism, a Delta staff report noted.
Noting washrooms are designed and built to last up to 50 years, former Parks, Recreation and Culture Director Carmen Gonzalez told the Optimist last year it’s the industry cost to build such structures.
“These are essentially industrial, institutional-like buildings. They’re built to be very robust for vandalism and tend to have a very long lifespan. It can be upwards of 50 years that these facilities are in operation. They really have to have that robust, resistant construction with mostly stainless steel toilets and sinks and concrete block construction. Because of how robust and industrial those facilities are, unfortunately, this is the industry pricing,” said Gonzalez.
On top of the construction costs, an additional expense includes the design.
Council the previous year awarded a contract for the design and construction administration of the new washroom buildings at Memorial Park and at Ladner Lions Park, a contract costing $120,151.
The total cost combined including construction for the projects was estimated at around $1.1 million.
