News photo by Josh Jambor The new Bay View Park restroom facility is beginning to take form. This photo shows the progress made on the facility on Thursday. A projected completion date remains unclear but Alpena officials said it will notify the public when it is ready to be used.

ALPENA – Construction crews are hard at work, as they continue to make progress on the new Bay View Park pavilion and restroom facility.

The City of Alpena received a $300,000 Michigan Natural Trust Fund grant in 2021 to use toward the new restrooms, which will be built near the Kiwanis Kiddie Park and the bandshell. The new restroom facility will also have a pavilion, new walkways, and lighting. It will provide badly needed amenities for the area around Bay View and the Alpena Small Boat Harbor, where portable toilets have been used for several years.

If you have driven by the new restroom facility recently, you will notice the outside of the structure is nearly complete.

Steve Shultz, engineer for the City of Alpena, said progress is being made, but there is still work, especially on the interior, that needs to be completed. Shultz said he is still unsure when the project will wrap up and the new facility open to the public.

“They have continued to work throughout the winter on it, they turned the gas service on recently and got the heat going so they can continue working on the inside,” Shultz said. “I do not have any update as far as a completion date.”

When an anticipated completion date is provided by the contractor, to the City of Alpena, an official update will be provided to the community, Shultz said.

“There is a lot of work that must be done on the inside with all the piping, drains, and stuff like that,” Shultz said. “We just keep in touch with the contractor, and they will let us know as we get closer to a completion date.”

“We do not want to say it’s a month away or anything like that because a lot can happen in a month, when we get closer to the finish line, then we will start talking about it more,” Shultz added.

For years, there were few restroom options for people in downtown Alpena or near the bandshell, harbor, or break wall. The new restroom facility near Culligan Plaza opened late last year. The new bathrooms will offer residents and visitors a badly needed service, especially during large events like the Michigan Brown Trout Festival, Flower Festival, and the annual Fourth of July fireworks display.