Newly restored San Isidro Beach Park restroom now open

House of Representatives Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez, third from right, Rep. John Paul Sablan, sixth from right, and Saipan Mayor Ramon Blas Camacho, fifth from left, lead lawmakers and other officials in the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newly renovated restroom at the San Isidro Beach Park in Chalan Kanoa, popularly known as Laly 4. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Friday morning to unveil the newly renovated and restored public restroom of the San Isidro Beach Park in Chalan Kanoa District 4, popularly known as Laly 4.

Rep. John Paul Sablan (Ind-Saipan) said the ceremony officially opens the public restroom at the San Isidro Beach Park for the people that frequent the area. The renovation/restoration project cost approximately $30,000.

“I’m very happy for this long-awaited project,” said Sablan, adding that he and then-representative Christina E. Sablan started the project in the 22nd Legislature by appropriating funding through local delegation.

He said they included three shower heads at the back of the restroom for people that want to rinse off before going home after swimming at the beach.

“I want to congratulate most especially the people that live here at the beach side and thank them for their patience,” the lawmaker said.

Sablan said they allocated nearly $30,000 for the project because they had to change all the toilets itself, installed three showerheads, and fixed the piping to the Commonwealth Utilities water meter.

“So there was a lot of facelift there. The building itself had some cracks they had to blaster it and painted it also,” he said.

Sablan said they have turned over the facility to the Division of Parks and Recreation, which will be maintaining the facility or is going to be the primary custodian of this public restroom.

For now, because there is no light at the restroom, Parks and Recreation will open the facility only from 6am to 6pm.

Sablan said he and Rep. Manny Castro (Ind-Saipan) look forward into a possible meeting with the Grants Office to look for funding to install solar panels so the restroom could be energized instead of dropping a power line down to the facility.

Sablan said the project was completed after almost a year because there were a lot of things that were not connected at the time when they started it such as piping to the sewer line and to the water meter, and also the facelift of the facility.

Castro thanked Rep. John Paul Sablan and former Rep. Christina Sablan, saying the restroom is going to be really a good amenity for people, residents and tourists alike.

“So we look forward to assisting the Parks and Recreation Division. As times are hard with this government, the recreation side of our community becomes more important so families can enjoy and have a better quality of life,” he said.

Saipan Mayor Ramon Blas Camacho said the restroom renovation is long overdue because a lot of people use this property. Camacho said the restroom was nonfunctioning so he thanks Rep. John Paul Sablan and former representative Christina Sablan for working hard to restore the restroom.

“All I’m asking the public is to…use [it] the right way [and] not to vandalize it,” the mayor said.

House Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez (Ind-Saipan) and other members of the House majority also attended the ribbon cutting.