Archaeologists will tell you the quickest way to find a potential treasure trove of buried history is finding old outhouses, where many discarded items were thrown. And the quickest way to find an old outhouse is to search for lilac trees, as the the beautiful aroma of the lilacs would overshadow — how shall we say? — the odors from inside the outhouse.

We were reminded of that this week in reading the Alpena City Council story, where discussion of restrooms at Bay View Park took place.

According to City Engineer Rich Sullenger, the current restrooms at Harbor Drive have been closed because “they are old and in poor condition,” which is the politically correct way of saying they stink, and there is not much the city can do to change the smell.

Sullenger went on to conjure up a rather vivid image when he suggested doing anything more than putting more paint on the walls and floor to cover up the smell would just be “putting lipstick on a pig.”

We’ll leave it to the city engineer’s office to offer some alternatives. We’re not sure the portable toilets now in place through that area are much better than the closed restrooms as odor is odor, no matter how much fragrance you use to try to mask the problem.

Wherever and whatever solutions city officials come up with, we hope they’ll keep this one idea in mind: Plant lilac trees as part of the landscaping near the restrooms. It’s nature’s way of “clearing the air.”