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Million-dollar restroom estimate alarms Portola Valley Parks committee
Summary
Committee members questioned a landscape-architect estimate of about $1.0M (and $1.3M with concessions) for a two-stall Ford Field restroom, requested a detailed cost breakdown, and discussed grant eligibility and lower-cost modular alternatives.
Portola Valley Parks & Recreation Committee members expressed surprise and concern Thursday over a landscape-architect cost estimate that placed a two-stall Ford Field restroom at about $1.0 million and raised the total to roughly $1.3 million if concessions were included.
Patty, speaking for committee members who reviewed the site materials, said the study—stimate equated to roughly $5,882 per square foot for a 170-square-foot two-stall restroom and questioned that figure. "A two stall bathroom, it's 170 square ft, which...that's $5,882 a square foot for bathrooms," she said.
Committee members contrasted that estimate with prior modular-unit quotes. Patty reported an older modular quote for a similar footprint of about $228,000 (and a separate $121,700 figure cited for a bathroom unit), numbers the committee said merit reconciliation with the landscape-architect proposal.
Members asked staff for a detailed cost breakdown that separates building cost, site work (including the concrete pad and ADA access), utility hookups and landscape/parking impacts. "We need to break down the construction: what's the building cost, the concrete pad, the path, the parking," one member said.
Darcy, representing staff, noted a related capital grant of $180,000 with a 20% match is available but is limited to capital (not maintenance) projects; committee members discussed whether that grant could be reallocated to other capital needs if the restroom project proves infeasible.
Several committee members said the estimate may make the project financially infeasible unless major cost reductions or large private pledges occur. "If the project costs cannot be brought down substantially, I think we should probably cancel the project," one member said, noting earlier Parks & Rec fundraising pledges were contingent on including concessions.
Committee next steps: staff was asked to produce a line-item cost breakdown, confirm whether the landscape-architect estimate includes site and utility work, check the modular-unit pricing and confirm grant eligibility and match constraints. No decision to proceed with construction was made at the meeting.
