AARON HALE / Special to the Eagle

Players from the Senior Softball League compete as the permanent restroom facility awaits completion.

AARON HALE / Special to the Eagle

Once complete, this small and simple structure will greatly satisfy the regulars at Winterberry Park.

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Players and fans using the Winterberry Park field don’t have to wait much longer before they can flush away the memories of using pungent portable toilets during ballgames. A permanent restroom facility is currently under construction at the Marco Island park.

For years, regulars at the Winterberry Park, located at the southern part of the island, had to use portable restroom facilities that lacked the comfort of a permanent structure and the sinks for washing hands. Now park-goers have to wait just weeks before they can use the new facility, which will have flushable toilets, sinks and a drinking fountain.

Parks and Recreation Director Dana Souza said expects the restroom facilities to be open by May 15.

For some park regulars like Joe Iuliano, the wait has been too long.

Iuliano said he has played softball at Winterberry Park for more than 20 years; he now plays in the Senior Softball League that uses the park in mornings and afternoons.

“We’ve always asked for restrooms but never got them until now,” said Iuliano.

For many people that use the park the biggest issue with restrooms was the lack of sinks.

Iuliano said he couldn’t believe how long the city ignored the need for cleanliness. He said that he used to joke with his teammates about washing his hands in the dirt after using the portable toilets provided at the park.

Some park visitors resigned to just go off-site to use the restroom.

“The ladies who attend a lot of the senior programs,” said Souza. “They’ve been traveling to the library or Mackle Park to use those facilities.”

Although the city’s Parks and Recreation Department had been planning to build permanent restrooms for years, the project continued to be postponed.

Souza named two reasons for the delay of the permanent restroom facility: other projects and changes in structure plans.

The Parks and Recreation Department had money budgeted for the structure for several years, said Souza. But when the department first had the money to use for the restroom facility, they decided to use it to fix the deteriorating ball-field instead.

Once the field conditions were improved, the department set back to work on plans for the restroom facility.

“We’ve changed the plans for the structure a few times,” said Souza.

The original plan was to have a small structure that used a septic tank.

Souza said building codes in Florida changed and the department finally decided on a structure that would use the city’s sewer system.

City Council approved construction for the facility in January.

The cost of the building was $58,165. City Council awarded the construction contract to Jim Duffy Construction Inc., for $125,872.

The softball players who have been playing in the winter league games have been able to watch the facility come together as it’s being built next to the field’s the third base line.

Jim Duffy, the contractor building the structure, said that his construction team is now working to add the building’s exterior trim and having the plumbing installed.

Once the facility is opened, Winterberry Park users will have more than just running water to look forward to. In addition to two restrooms on either side of the building, the facility will also have a concessions stand in the middle.

“For the people who use it, it’s going to be a great asset,” said Souza, who also noted that the concessions stand could be used for fundraising for organizations that use the park.

The structure is slated for completion in mid-May. Until then, ball players will just have to cross their fingers – and maybe even their legs – in the hopes that the construction experiences no more delays.