AMHERST — A temporary bathroom for patrons at the North Amherst Library is a step closer to reality.
Town Manager Paul Bockelman said Tuesday that he has reached out to Terry Johnson, a retired Mark’s Meadow Elementary School teacher, requesting she provide funding to bring an accessible port-a-potty to the branch.
“I told Miss Johnson this week that we would take her up on her offer,” Bockelman said.
In June, Johnson informed the elected trustees for the Jones Library that she would pay for the rental and cleaning of the portable bathroom, estimated at between $500 and $650, and ensure that it remain on site for all of July and August, when the branch sees heavier use for the summer reading program.
No public restroom is inside the building. Patrons currently have to cross Montague Road in hopes of using facilities at a shopping center.
But Johnson’s offer was delayed, in part, Bockelman said, because the town on July 1 took possession of the neighboring Village Auto Service, at 24 Montague Road, and wanted to evaluate the condition of the bathrooms in the former auto repair building. Those bathrooms were used on occasion by patrons, but are no longer suitable due to Americans with Disabilities Act rules.
“It would take a lot of work to make them (handicapped) accessible,” Bockelman said.
Though the port-a-potty may not be on site until August, Johnson said she committed to providing the bathroom for two months.
“I hope it’s just the beginning of a process to solve the problem,” Johnson said.
Library Director Sharon Sharry has said that a permanent bathroom is needed, but is complicated by the future reconfiguration of Montague and Sunderland roads through the Village Auto Service property.
Still, making the North Amherst Library building accessible, adding a bathroom and creating dedicated parking are all part of a plan that Sharry said will be developed now that the town controls the land around the library.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
