Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


New bathrooms and concessions should hopefully be installed at Scofield Park in the City of Howell by the end of the month.

Two replacement bathrooms were ordered last year for the park – one building with two bathrooms and a concession for the beach area and another with two bathrooms to be located on top of the hill by the pavilion.

Both facilities were originally scheduled to come in late May or early June.

City Manager Erv Suida says unfortunately hardware was not available due to supply chain issues, which has delayed the installation. He told WHMI they’re hoping to get a new schedule soon and are hopeful that by the end of July, both facilities should be back in place – which are very nice and ADA-compliant.

The old bathrooms have already been demolished. Suida said they were taken down in anticipation of the late May/early June installation but unfortunately, they didn’t get word of the delay until after the demolition occurred. There are porta-potties on site and Suida said they have an aggressive cleaning schedule. If there are any issues, Suida said the hope is that people will report them so they can get taken care of promptly.

Suida noted they’ve also applied for a federal grant that’s made it through the appropriation process, which would allow for other improvements at the Thompson Lake beach and more ADA-upgrades. He said if that’s successful, then there will be a lot going on at the park over the next two years.