After a fire damaged a public restroom in Saratoga’s Wildwood Park this summer, the city council voted to put nearly $140,000 towards its repairs.
The Santa Clara County Fire Department first responded to reports of the fire in the restroom in the early hours of Aug. 3, and identified the origins of the fire to be in the men’s restroom, according to Matt Mokhtarian, a public information officer with the department. There were signs of forced entry to the restroom, and fire officials estimated the cost of cleanup and repairs due to the fire to be around $1 million.
The incident is still under investigation, Mokhtarian said.
The city of Saratoga had already been working on a park restroom renovation project that included the one in Wildwood Park, funded by federal dollars the city received from the American Rescue Plan Act, a stimulus package from the pandemic in 2021.
The council’s unanimous vote at its Oct. 2 meeting amended the contract with the construction company that was already contracted for the project to include repairs for the fire damage in the scope of their responsibilities. The cost of these repairs is estimated to be $138,876, city staff said.
“Combining the work with the original contract will increase efficiency, as the single contractor will be able to coordinate all of the work together,” city staff said in a report. “In addition, the combined project will allow for the restroom to be reopened more quickly.”