Handful of improvements coming soon to Washington square park

Washington — A smattering of new amenities are coming to the park in downtown Washington as summer draws near.

Main Street Washington representatives said last week that they’d paid for new picnic tables in the square, in an effort to replace ironing boards used as makeshift dining spots at last year’s farmers markets.

“They were cumbersome and they blow over when it’s windy, and it’s Iowa, so it’s windy quite often,” said Main Street Washington Executive Director Samantha Meyer, of the ironing boards. “They’re not really fun for our volunteers to put out and take down every week, either … so we asked the (parks department) for a quote.”

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Meyer said the tables were funded with donations, two from contributions in memory of the late Mark Kendall, and two more using funds donated by the Dallmeyer family. She said the total cost came out to $2,400.

Meyer said she wasn’t sure when the tables would arrive, but said the parks department ordered them earlier this month.

The tables aren’t Main Street’s only planned addition to Washington’s square, according to Meyer, who said the group was working to add decorations to the park’s bandstand and fountain soon. It’s part of a broader effort to spruce up the center of downtown, making for better photos and better publicity of events there, according to Meyer.

“We recently had Farm to Film Fest, and we also had prom, and many people come downtown to take their pictures,” she said. “But this time of year, before the flowers are planted and blooming, it’s kind of ‘meh.’ So we are looking at what kinds of faux foliage, flowers, banners, things like that we can stick in the planters to spruce it up before things get planted.”

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Also opening soon are newly built bathrooms in the park, which are on-track to finish construction and open by the end of May, according to City Administrator Joe Gaa.

While that means they should be ready for countless outdoor events in the square this summer, the date is just a smidgen later than ideal for a handful of springtime activities, including the chamber of commerce’s craft fair, and first few weeks of the farmers market.

Organizers for some of those events said they planned to rent portable toilets in the meantime, and rearrange vendors away from the construction zone on the northeast corner of the park.

“The contract construction end date was May 23, and we still feel like we’re on that track, we may have to have some temporary fixtures inside,” Gaa said of the facility. “It’s on schedule, not ahead or behind.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com