Among the “award-winning” amenities in La Jolla are toilets. The Kellogg Park Comfort Station at La Jolla Shores was honored with the San Diego and Imperial County chapters of the American Public Works Association’s Project of the Year Award on Sept. 14.
After the city attempted for seven years to update the Shores’ restroom and beach shower facility ” to no avail ” park advocate Mary Coakley pulled the community together to complete the project. The coalition aimed to create a restroom with “maximum function in minimum space with careful consideration given to safety, accessibility, ease of maintenance, vandalism, vagrancy and aesthetics.”
The community saw the need for new facilities; more than 45 businesses contributed their services or building materials for free or at a discounted price. Architect Dale Naegle designed the adobe architectural style that he sought to blend with surrounding buildings. Local contractor Louis Beacham donated his construction skills and built the facility. Landscape designer Sean O’Neill dressed the area in greenery.
The award “is an incredible tribute to over 100 businesses and community members who contributed their time and services and financial support to the project,” Coakley said.
Naegle said that the comfort station has spurred the community on to even greater projects at the Shores. Coakley is now spearheading a coalition of local businesses, scientists, divers, environmentalists and Kumeyaay Indians to create a map of the underwater world that will fill a dirt lot next to the comfort station. “The Map” aims to educate the public about La Jolla’s ecological reserve ” its fish, dive sites, underwater canyons and history. For information, visit www.lajollashores.map.com.