The Arnold Farmers Market will have nicer facilities next year.
A permanent restroom building is expected to be delivered and installed by May at the market, which is near the entrance of Arnold City Park, said Dave Crutchley, the Arnold Parks and Recreation Department director.
“I think it will make a huge difference, and it will be much nicer,” he said.
Arnold City Council members voted 7-0 Oct. 3 to pay CXT Inc. $107,718 for the prefabricated restroom facility, which is similar to the one at the Jim Edwards Archery Park on Telegraph Road in Arnold. Ward 2 Councilman Bill Moritz was absent from the meeting.
The building will have one restroom for men and one for woman. It will already be constructed when it is delivered, and the building will just need to be set on the concrete pad and have the utilities connected to it, Crutchley said.
“You literally set it on top of (the concrete pad), and you hook it up,” he said. “Typically, it can be running at the end of the day when it arrives.”
Crutchley said the building is made completely of concrete, and the roof will look like corrugated metal, similar to the top of the farmers market, and will be painted green.
The building will be a tan color that matches the other buildings in the park.
Crutchley said the city has not decided where to place the restroom building.
“It will depend on how the utilities run to hook up to it and what will give it the best exposure,” he said.
Crutchley said the restroom building is needed because shoppers have complained about only having access to portable bathrooms in the market area.
“Nobody likes using portable bathrooms,” he said. “The market brings in a couple of thousand people every Saturday. Also, for changing kids if you have little ones with you, there was nowhere to go. It was one of our biggest complaints. It is time to put a permanent bathroom down there.”
The farmers market is open from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays throughout the season, which typically runs from May through the first or second weekend of November. Arnold City Park is at 1 Bradley Beach Road off Jeffco Boulevard near the Meramec River.
Crutchley said the bathrooms will not just be open when the market is operating, adding that the building will have automatic locks that open the bathroom doors about a half hour before sunrise and locks the bathroom doors about a half hour after sunset.
If someone is in the restroom when it automatically locks, the person can open the door from the inside, Crutchley aid.
He also said the bathrooms will be nice for those who attend Christmas in the Park.
The city held its first Christmas in the Park event last year, and approximately 3,500 people attended.
He said portable bathrooms will still be available at the market, but he expects most people will prefer to use permanent facilities.
“I would say 90 percent of the people will pick a bathroom over a portable bathroom,” Crutchley said.