Dallas Center installs spiffy, prefab trailhead restrooms

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DALLAS CENTER — The Raccoon River Valley Trailhead in Dallas Center received a spiffy new set of public restrooms Tuesday morning, the end result of the city’s yearlong fundraising campaign.

The ADA-compliant facilities with all the trappings cost the city about $140,000, most of which was paid by a grant of $75,000 received last fall from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ Resource Enhancement and Protection (REAP) program.

The REAP funding came on the heels of an $18,200 grant from the Dallas County Foundation.

“You need a head at the trailhead,” joked one of the old timers who gathered to watch the workers from the Public Restroom Co. and Barnhart Crane and Rigging move the prefabricated unit from the back of a semi-tractor trailer to the concrete pad at the trailhead in a delicate operation.

The restrooms have heated floors, making them serviceable in all weather, according to a city spokesperson.

Dallas Center City Council member Curt Pion, who spearheaded the trailhead improvement project, said the comfort station was “a priority of the city council, and we see it as important for economic development.”

Pion praised the help of the Recreational Trail Committee and the Park and Recreation Board as well as the community members who signed letters of support.

Dallas Center Park and Recreation Board member Mark Powell called Pion “the flagbearer for this project” and said the restrooms and shelter space will be a positive addition to the community.

“This REAP money will benefit the community by serving the expanding regional cycling community as well as our local citizens,” Dallas Center Mayor Michael Kidd said when the REAP grant was awarded.

“The city would like to thank Dallas Center City Council Member Curtis Pion for putting the grant request together,” Kidd said. “His hard work has benefited our community immensely.”

Kidd also thanked several local groups and businesses for their letters of support during the REAP application process: the Dallas Center Boy Scouts of America Troop 116, the Roy R. Estle Memorial Library, Spurgeon Manor, the Dallas Center Economic Development Committee, the Dallas Center Farmer’s Market, Pullen Hair, the First Presbyterian Church and the Dallas Center League of Average Pedalers.

The mayor outlined the financing of the project with the following figures:

Expenses:
Veenstra and Kimm Inc., $4,000
Public Restroom Co., 124,342
Concrete and related, $9,800
Miscellaneous paid by city to date, $1,965.83
Total = $140,107.83

Grants:
REAP grant, $75,000
Dallas County Foundation grant, $18,200
Wellmark BCBS donation, $10,000
Delta Dental donation, $3,500
Total = $106,700.00

Fifteen percent of REAP funds are earmarked annually for city projects that establish natural areas and encourage outdoor recreation and resource management. In its 27 years, REAP has supported more than 15,000 projects in all 99 Iowa counties, and Dallas Center has received previous REAP grants totaling almost $250,000, Kidd said.

The REAP grant followed last September’s grant from the Grow Greene County Gaming Corporation via the Dallas County Foundation. The Greene County funds were generated at the Wild Rose Casino in Jefferson and were passed through to the Dallas County Foundation in a sharing agreement.

User data collected by the Dallas County Conservation Board showed the portion of the Raccoon River Valley Trail between Waukee and Dallas Center gets more use than any other, so travelers will no longer have the discomfort of singing with A. E. Housman:

Oh, I have been to Ludlow fair
And left my necktie God knows where,
And carried half way home, or near,
Pints and quarts of Ludlow beer.

A city spokesperson said the front portion of the building will be installed using a smaller crane Wednesday. Once the utilities are hooked up by MidAmerican Energy, the concrete will be poured connecting the restroom to the trail. The facility should be operational in time for the Dallas Center Fall Festival, Aug. 25-26.

 

2 COMMENTS

  1. But oh, good Lord, the verse you make,
    It gives a chap the belly-ache.
    The cow, the old cow, she is dead;
    It sleeps well, the horned head:
    We poor lads, ’tis our turn now
    To hear such tunes as killed the cow.
    Pretty Friendship ’tis to rhyme
    Your friends to death before their time.

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