By Pat Jenkins
The Dispatch
The long drive on State Route 7 to Mount Rainier once was widely lamented for having no rest areas with public bathrooms, so with the annual summer migration of visitors to the mountain coming soon, the pit stop likely will continue getting near-rave reviews from motorists as a place to answer nature’s call.
Travelers who have posted comments online about the rest stop since it opened in 2012 give it two thumbs up for convenience, cleanliness, and even cuteness – and, of course, the relief factor.
"This place is near-perfect ... you don't have to hold it” until reaching the mountain and public restrooms there, one poster wrote.
The facility, built for $3.2 million in federal and state money, is housed in a renovated, 1930s-era building. It was a godsend for people journeying to Mount Rainier National Park – which gets more than 1 million visitors a year, many of them via State Route 7 -- and for Elbe-area businesses and leaders of the tourism industry leaders who clamored for decades for a public restroom on the road to Rainier.
What they got is a rest area that is open on weekends and holidays from November through March, and open daily from April through October, the peak visitor season. Amenities include two waterless urinals in the men’s room and a combined five vault (waterless) toilets for the men’s and women's rooms and a third, unisex restroom. The latter is designed for disabled persons and for families that need to assist children in the bathroom.
Outside are 12 parking spaces and two picnic tables. A traveler-information kiosk occupies a kind of lobby on the 1,500-square-feet ground floor of the building. The second story is used by DOT for storage.
One of the visitors who has stopped at the rest area voiced pleasure online with the kiosk and the picnic area and added that its bathroom facilities are preferable over portable toilets or flush toilets she’s seen at other rest areas.
“This rest stop is super-clean compared to some rest stops with flush toilets and running water,” she posted. “There is also a baby-changing station, and when was the last time you saw one of those in a porta-potty?"
Comments from other posters include:
• "It's perfect if you need to stop on your way to Mount Rainier or take a rest before continuing on to your final destination."
• There are no sinks with running water, but "it's better than nothing, and it's free."
• “Cute little rest stop.”
The fully restored wooden building is a piece of local history. It was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps more than 70 years ago as a station and bunkhouse for crews fighting forest fires. Over the years, was an automotive supply store and truck repair business when not owned by the state.
The cost of converting the site into a much-needed oasis for highway travelers was questioned by some in the public and even called excessive by some. DOT officials said the pricetag was bigger than they would have liked, too, but in their defense, they noted it was hard finding a location in such a rural area that was adaptable to engineering and environmental standards. Over a 14-year period leading up to the final choice and the rest stop’s unveiling, several possible sites on public and private land were considered. Each required studies and tests, including preliminary engineering, that eventually added up to more than $1.4 million.
Officials have noted that the final result isn’t what motorists find along Interstate 5, but “it’s far from what some have called an outhouse.”
The various parts of the overall cost included about $749,000 for rehabilitation of the building, $250,000-plus plus for lights, pavement, walkways and a stormwater drainage system, and $17,500 for landscaping. The land and building were purchased for $271,000.
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