New toilets for dinosaur park as old ones deemed extinct

Work to replace the existing toilet block at Marlow Park, also known as the Dinosaur Park, near St Kilda beach will start next week from Monday, 7 September.

DCC Project Manager Property Services Rachel Scott says the DCC has been planning to replace the toilets at Marlow Park for a while owing to the deteriorating condition of the existing block.

“Marlow Park is a vibrant and popular destination for families. We’re replacing the toilet block to ensure this wonderful resource is adequately serviced and remains an attractive place for visitors.”

The old toilets are past their use by date and replacing them has always been in the pipeline, she says.

It will feature four stalls; two of which will be accessible and have baby change facilities, as well as two standard unisex stalls. There will also be an outdoor shower. It aims to be more resilient to vandalism and wilful damage to reduce maintenance and repair costs.

“Outside of the toilet replacement work, there is also work underway to improve the play equipment at Marlow Park itself. The new toilets have been designed with the future plans for the playground in mind, and will fit in well with what it will look like and feature,” Ms Scott says.

The DCC will start deconstructing the old toilets on Monday in order to ready the site for the construction of the new block. Once the site has been cleared, earthwork and excavations of the ground will begin before construction of the new building. Further work will then be needed to finalise the installation.

The work is expected to take about four months and the toilet block is scheduled to be installed by December. Portaloos will be in place while construction is underway for the public to use.

“We’ve scheduled the work at the end of winter when the playground has been observed as less busy, and we’re aiming to have everything ready in time for summer,” Ms Scott says.

Ms Scott says the contractors will work to ensure there is minimal disruption to the public and traffic. There may be some impact on the nearby footpath to make way for heavy machinery and ground work.

An archaeological assessment of the surrounding land found a low chance of encountering anything historically significant. The project has a budget of $450,000 which includes the enabling works.

The new toilets will be similar in design to other recently upgraded DCC toilets, such as those at North Ground, Navy Park and in Frederick Street. This is part of the DCC’s commitment to upgrade and improve its services and facilities across Dunedin such as public toilets.

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