Rest Stop Repurpose saves money for Larkspur
Posted : Mar 1, 2010 7:43 PM
Updated: Mar 2, 2010 6:07 AM
Waste for the state is relief for a small town budget. The bathrooms from the old Larkspur rest stop along I-25 have a new purpose.
The Colorado Department of Transportation closed the rest stop in part to save $650,000 of maintenance costs. The plan was to demolish most of the buildings, but leaders in the town of Larkspur had another idea. "Asked what they were going to do with the facility," says Larkspur Town Manager, Matt Krimmer. A simple question led to a saving opportunity for the city which is building a new city park, but has very limited revenue to support the development project. CDOT'S plan was to demolish everything. City leaders asked for the bathrooms and CDOT said yes as long as the town paid to move them.
The park now has two of the bathrooms that would have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to build new. The price tag could end up free. There are more bathrooms the town didn't use that are up for sale. The city doesn't plan on padding the city budget though the sales, but it could off-set the money they paid to move the buildings.
The town of monument has already purchased one of the small buildings. There are several other small towns considering the other buildings.
Depending on the size and material the price is $8,000 up to $25,000. A great deal according to Larkspur leaders who say the price tag for new would be $80,000 up to $200,000.
