AMHERST — Since a playground opened at Kendrick Park at the north end of downtown in summer 2021, children who play there, and their families, have depended on nearby restaurants and other stores for bathrooms.
By this summer, town officials had planned for a standalone restroom, known as a Portland Loo, to be operational, with the costs of its installation covered by $1.8 million in various infrastructure improvements funded by American Rescue Plan Act funds.
In addition, the Department of Public Works made all the necessary plumbing connections, as part of improvements along North Pleasant Street, to ensure the prefabricated structure could be placed there.
But unlike other communities in Massachusetts, such as Greenfield and Cambridge, that have these facilities, Amherst has not yet been able to get its in place, as officials await an affirmative decision from the Board of State Examiners of Plumbers and Gas Fitters. The state board has the town’s application on the agenda for its Aug. 6 meeting.
“Really, really frustrating for us,” is how Town Manager Paul Bockelman put it when asked by a member of the Town Council this week. He explained that town workers have done their part to get it in place, only to learn that the state plumbing board requires compliance, even after being told by the manufacturer it already was.
“They said it did, but apparently it doesn’t,” Bockelman said.
Building Commissioner Rob Morra explained that the state board requires all equipment and fixtures installed in the state to first complete a product acceptance process and the Portland Loo selected by the town had to be submitted for the state’s review.
If the unit is approved, Portland Loo will continue with the fabrication phase and be able to schedule delivery, Morra said.
Amherst chose the Portland Loo due to its success in Greenfield, which installed its Portland Loo in late 2023 in the parking lot between Chapman and Davis streets and near a municipal skate park, while Cambridge had its first two installed in 2016 and 2018.
But the state board has no records that approvals were ever granted for those.
The process in Amherst also included site plan and special permit approval from the Planning Board and examination by the Design Review Board.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
