There’s some good news and some bad news and some potentially really good news regarding another project at Wayne Jamison Field. And it involves new restrooms that Assistant Superintendent of Harrison County Schools Anthony Fratto and Superintendent Dr. Mark Manchin said is coming to the facility as the result of construction of a new Johnson Elementary School.

 

Late last year, Fratto said due to the placement of the new JES, it was almost certain that the restrooms that are near the main entrance to Jamison Field would have to be replaced. This past week, both Fratto and Manchin said it's not only going to happen, but that preliminary drawings are complete.

 

Initially, Fratto said that the thought was that the new restroom building would be attached to the new Johnson Elementary.

 

In order to make it feasible, the building would use the electric and water from Johnson. There would also only be access to the restroom from the outside with no entrance on the inside, Fratto said.

 

That’s not going to happen, which could be considered the bad news.

 

“The architect was concerned that if it’s attached to the building it will be lower in the flood plain and affect insurance for the entire building. They decided to not attach, but they’ll still have to take it out as part of the construction of the new school,” said Fratto prior to the most recent revelation.

 

The good news is that the existing restrooms, which BHS Principal Mark DeFazio said was one of the future projects that needed addressed, will soon be a thing of the past. And that means new restrooms.

 

“We know for sure that we’re getting a new restroom. After talking to Dr. Manchin and Anthony (late last year), we’re definitely going to get a new public restroom,” said DeFazio. “We’re not sure of the location so that’s what we’ll have to work on, but I’d imagine it will be somewhere close to the same area. It’s in the discussion phase and we’ll be requesting a larger facility with handicap accessibility.”

 

Fratto concurred with DeFazio about the location - even months after initial discussions. However, he said a scenario presented in the drawings that were recently done are likely not to take place.

 

The initial drawing shows it attached to the one of the buildings at the football field. The area in question is a heavily used parking area.

 

"That's likely not going to happen as it's shown," Fratto said this past week. "It's likely going to be a stand alone. We're working on the best place for it and that will be determined soon."

 

Fratto also said the number of units as well as sinks may not be exact. He did say they will be in the range that is shown and will have handicap access.

 

While that’s the good news, there’s potentially – and DeFazio emphasized potentially – another project that was brought up. However, it’s far from a done deal.

 

“We hope to work out getting a restroom on the visitors’ side of the field,” said DeFazio. “That’s long been needed and right now it’s just in the discussion phase. The thing is that if you’re going to possibly build a restroom on the other side of the field it will be a lot cheaper to do it when you have everything mobilized to build one than to have to bring everything back and do it in the future. It makes sense to at least look at it.”

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows a recent architectural rendering that  shows a rough size of the building and the second is an elevated view of the inside. BHS principal Mark DeFazio and Harrison County Assistant Superintendent Anthony Fratto, respectively, are shown below.