A new permanent bathroom will be installed at Ricketts Lake in Fayette. The Fayette Board of Alderman approved the expenditure of $17,500 of donated funds for the project.

Ann Schnell, on behalf of the Parks and Recreation Commission, appeared before the city council during its regular meeting on Tuesday, April 20. Fayette citizens and organizations made donations toward the Ricketts Lake Project, which was chiefly funded by a grant from the Missouri Recreation Trails Program. The city was forced to abandon the project and return the money to the state once it became apparent that the costs for the project, specifically those associated with upgrading the trail and parking lot to cement, were greatly underestimated. 

The project also included the installation of a cement bathroom.

Despite the project’s abandonment, the donated funds are still in hand. Schnell reported to the council that all of the donors agreed to use the money for a new bathroom. 

Schnell said she asked every organization and resident who donated money to use the funds for a bathroom “All of them agreed,” she said. Of the $21,447 in donation, $17,500 would be spent for the concrete, single-room bathroom. The remaining funds would help pay for a changing station in the bathroom. Any additional funds left will go toward maintenance of the chat-surfaced trail.

The city agreed to chip in on work at the site, which includes digging the foundation and rock.

Schnell said this would eliminate the need for the city to pay for portable bathrooms at the lake.

The contracted bid from the state for the new bathroom ends on April 30. So Schnell asked for swift action from the council. All four members present voted in favor.