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Public Restrooms Coming To Downtown Sebring

By MANDY SHEETS | Highlands Today

Published: October 25, 2007

Downtown merchants are asked daily for their restrooms, but soon visitors to the Circle will have another place to go.

The downtown Greater Sebring Chamber of Commerce office will be converted into public restrooms, an information center and meeting space.

Dan Andrews, president and chief executive officer of the chamber, said restrooms have been a much-needed addition to downtown, especially with the increase in frequency and size of special events downtown.

Community Redevelopment Agency members are contributing $29,000 to the $40,000 project to renovate the 1,400 square-foot office.

CRA member Lorrie Smith said she is in favor of the donation, which will directly affect the CRA district.

"This will have a big impact for downtown," Smith said. "It's something we've needed for a long time and we finally have the money to do it."

The city of Sebring owns the building and is renting to the chamber, which signed a 30-year lease. Therefore, changes to the interior must be approved by city council and a site plan review is scheduled for the Nov. 6 meeting. Andrews said he has discussed plans with city officials and does not foresee any problems with their approval.

Andrews said his goal is to have the project operational by the start of the Christmas Carousel of Lights, which runs from the first week of December until the end of the month.

The closest public restrooms are located behind the police station or at City Pier Beach.

Although the restrooms will not accommodate large events, such as Run to the Heartland, they will be sufficient for smaller events, like Heartland Idol and Gallery Walk.

The information center will feature brochures about the area and will be manned by a chamber volunteer during daytime hours, Andrews said.

The downtown chamber office, located at 309 Circle Park Dr., has been vacant since they moved to the Business/Welcome Center at 227 U.S. 27 in March.

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