Digging The New South Beach Bathrooms

Work began yesterday on the new bathrooms at Compo Beach. They’ll be adjacent to the pickleball courts, between South Beach and the Ned Dimes Marina.

The view from the beach… (Photo/Matt Murray)

… and from the pickleball courts. (Photo/Tammy Barry)

There is no estimated date yet for completion.

18 responses to “Digging The New South Beach Bathrooms

  1. Janet Amadio

    Why this when they should really be redoing the sidewalks on Main Street between Willowbrook Cemetery and Richmondville Ave, which are in such bad shape one could easily fall into the potholes.

  2. Joshua Stein

    On the comment of sidewalks, has anyone looked at the sidewalks along the post road? It seems every other business has a sidewalk when there probably should be a continuous sidewalk in front of each. You will see a sidewalk leading to grass or dirt in many cases. I do agree that may be a more worthy project focusing on fixing sidewalks and pedestrian safety than building new bathrooms…

  3. Jay Walshon MD FACEP

    An unnecessary travesty that overwhelmingly Westport residents did not want, and which the Town will regret.

    Local governance at its absolute worst.

  4. Daryl Styner, D.D.S.

    Shame on you Westport. Egos won. Westport lost.

  5. Sharon Paulsen

    Wow, I am kindof surprised to see this project moving forward, after reading so many comments about the intense opposition, and the debates, regarding the location of these facilities at the south beach.

    What happened to the negotiation and alternative options, which so many seemed to be passionate about?

    Since I am an ex-pat of my hometown, I do not have the insiders scoop on all of this.

    But, something about this seems ill conceived.

    Hope it works out to be better than the naysayers would project, because it appears that it’s a done deal, either way.

    I personally would have “voted” against this location, if I were still a resident.

    But again, it just might work out … and it’s up to the current Townies to suffer that decision.

    • Jay Walshon MD FACEP

      Sharon, what happened was cronyism, obstinance, bully politics, and the use of shenanigans in blatent disregard for what Town residents wanted. The Parks and Recreation Commission has power without public accountability, the BoF violated its own spending principles, the P&Z was misled by the Parks and Recreation, and the RTM used a concerted false narrative that was organized and promoted by biased Town representatives as an excuse to ignore their constituents and the multiple experts who gave warnings and provided prudent and responsible alternatives.

      I my opinion, this “…. house” will forever serve as monument to this administration’s abuse of power, fiscal irresponsibility, lack of vision, destruction of prized real estate, and knowing disregard for the safety of the public.

      This would NEVER happen in a Town where responsible stewardship of the environment is important.

  6. Have they considered offering naming rights ?

  7. Tom Feeley Sr

    Naming Rights ⁉️Fantastic idea‼️
    White Castle is my suggestion 😂

  8. Distasteful and unsafe location.

  9. Rebecca Ellsley

    Is the sidewalk still on the other side of the street and not accessing the new bathroom? I believe That was built wrong place because not the correct plans given out?

    • Jay Walshon MD FACEP

      Rebecca, I believe that intentional violation of the P&Z approval was rectified but those responsible for that intentional violation have yet to be held publicly accountable. Shocking.

  10. Ted Friedman

    Funny, or maybe not, how quickly we forget. The pickleballers may not like the location and we may not like the cost but the idea of South Beach bathrooms was the single most mentioned priority when the Compo Beach committee held its initial charette discussions 5-6 years ago.

    • Sharon Paulsen

      Yup.

      And, in fact, the idea of having a small-ish permanent bathroom facility on the south beach was something my family and my friends of the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and early aughts had always pined for.

      Porta-Potties were always depressing, when and if they were placed around the area (hard to recall details on that).

      Seemed that a small, open air style building (taking advantage of the clearing sea breezes with high ceiling type privacy-windows), would have pleased the masses.

      Something unimposing/compact, and “charming”, could have been easily designed and built, farther away from the recreation courts.

      Anything too large, especially if located close to the end of the peninsula, would have also caused debates regarding aesthetics.

      I had always thought to myself, “a nice simple solution” to that hike to the main baths would be a smaller outbuilding near the boat launch. A no brainer. Just my feelings over the long years as a townie.

      And, IMO, green-tech could be applied to any new structures, to increase eco and energy friendliness.

      I am probably preaching to the choir, and now to the wind, because the concrete is going down anyway.

      Sometimes I wonder if my dreams of re-establishing residence in Westport are somewhat thwarted by recent “developments” (snark).

    • Jay Walshon MD FACEP

      This has nothing to do with “Pickleballers”…they just noticed it first.while the rest of the town was misled or asleep. Estimates are 90% of residents do not want THIS structure nor THIS location. Better options exist that would please everyone.

      BTW that charette you mention was 67 people out of 25,000…. hardly an overwhelming endorsement. .. and NONE wanted THIS ONE. It was a bait and switch.