Marr Park shower house construction starts this week

AINSWORTH — Marr Park has closed down its campground shower house early after Labor Day weekend, as demolition and reconstruction begin for a new and improved suite of amenities. The $550,000 project comes on the heels of four consecutive record-breaking years for campground revenue.

Washington County Conservation Director Zach Rozmus said the upgrade was a long time coming, with early planning efforts dating back to 2017.

“The current shower house that we have was built in 1991 and for the last several years has kind of been piecemealed together,” he said. “It was designed for a 20-site campground, and now having over 40 sites with expansion and different projects, we always knew we were going to want to bring a new shower house.”

The new amenity will have six individual rooms with their own showers, toilets and sinks.

Rozmus said that was a frequently requested improvement over the previous communal shower and changing areas.

“Individuals with kids can go in there without having to worry about keeping them corralled, and it’s also just a more private situation,” he said.

Placed at the front of Marr Park, Rozmus said the improved facility would offer a better-looking first impression of the area as recreators enter the grounds. The county has taken architectural design elements from the conservation center to keep the park’s look cohesive.

While a shower house may seem unexciting to some, Rozmus said it was a sign of growing use for the county’s conservation department, as well as an amenity to attract more people moving forward.

“When the original campground was designed, you never really thought someone was going to come in with a fifth wheel or an RV,” he said. “We put a lot of effort into keeping our facilities as clean as possible, but we’ve made a lot of investment into the experience out here, and one of the last things we need to check is (a) shower house that’s going to meet those same expectations. It’s going to be clean, it’s going to have the privacy component, it’s going to be a new chapter in the enhancements we’re making.”

The work is funded by a $250,000 Riverboat Foundation grant, as well as various product and material donations from area businesses. The rest comes largely from campground revenue, according to Rozmus.

The conservation director said he was thankful for all the support.

“We’re really fortunate here in Washington County and the general vicinity,” he said. “We have a lot of really great local contractors that want to see the community continue to grow, the want to see an enhancement.”

The new facility is expected to open in spring of 2024, weather-permitting, according to Rozmus, who hoped the date would allow campers to enjoy most of the season’s holiday weekends.

While the rush to build raised project costs, he said it was worth the money.

“We’re going to try to take advantage of what we call our offseason,” Rozmus said. “We don’t want to interfere with the experience out here … As long as we can get the bricklaying done and mother nature cooperates, I think it’s a realistic time frame.”

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