The proposed $385,000 price tag for new washrooms near the Dorian Parker Centre is causing a bit of a stink at city hall.
Tack on a $150,000 study on the future of the facility and more than a few eyebrows were raised starting with Councillor Doug Shipley.
"The cost of the washroom seems high to me. Now I've never built a washroom for public use. But just the dollar value of it - I'm not sure what we're building there," Shipley said.
"I'm just trying to wrap my head around how I could build a house with granite counter tops for $385,000 and we're talking about a washroom," said Councillor Andrew Prince.
The Centre is located at Sunndale Park, which at 80 acres, is Barrie's biggest park.
The older structure is used for meetings, social functions and banquets, among other things.
City staff say the intention is to build a stand alone, prefabricated, accessible, self-cleaning, premium washroom facility that is very durable.
"If we get to a point where that building does come down, I just want the reassurance that if we invest just under half a million dollars in these bathrooms, the bathrooms are okay if we were to replace that structure, renovate it, what have you," Councillor Sergio Morales said.
"I'm still stuck on the $385,000 for a couple of stalls. You're saying multiple. What is multiple? Two-three-four? How many per male and female or unisex?" asked Councillor Rose Romita.
"That's a lot of money for a few washrooms. You could have a really nice home for that."
The washrooms would be for men and women, have multiple stalls and could be relocated to another park.
"It will stand outside the centre itself so it will be useful for people that are in the park which is the most important thing we heard from the community consultation. Everybody wanted washrooms that were accessible because Dorian Parker is locked. You cant use those," said Rick Pews, Barrie's director of corporate facilities
"Can I ask the obvious questons?" said Mayor Jeff Lehman. "How does council know whether $385,000 is too much, too little or appropriate for a washroom?"
The Mayor noted there were two very large community meetings five years ago on the future of the Centre and there's still no clear answer.
"A fair amount of community consultation has not produced a workable plan yet," Lehman said.
The councillor for the area, Barrie Ward said possible uses and the future of centre will be the subject of a separate report.
"Right now it's not being used much," he said. "It's not heated or air condtioned. In three years we'll be a better position to know what to do with it."
Staff are expected to provide a memo with some answers at tonight's council meeting.
