The Route 66 Heritage Foundation of Logan County seeks an extra $4,755 from the city to build handicap accessible bathrooms — that also are transgender-friendly — at The Mill in Lincoln, Illinois.
The group hopes to have everything done so The Mill, a former Route 66 restaurant, can open as a local museum in the spring.
The city promised $12,000 in motel tax revenue to the foundation for the project. It also received a $22,720 cost-share grant from the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program.
The Courier newspaper gave some details why the extra money was requested:
An Oct. 25 memo to the aldermen from Geoff Ladd, Secretary for the foundation and program director with the Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway, indicated that the additional funding request was the result of late stage changes to the design of the facility’s bathroom.
“Once we received the [NPS] grant, the professional architect, after consulting with the city and the [Illinois] plumbing inspector, came back to us with a revised ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] bathroom plan that, unfortunately, requires two bathrooms, with one requiring two toilets,” Ladd explained.
“We had the option of a urinal, but we removed that, as the transgender laws are continuing to evolve and we don’t want to have to take that out, possibly, down the road.”
The original plan was to install one bathroom that would be ADA accessible to both genders. The new modifications to the plan call for an 18 by 20 foot addition to the back of the building with two bathrooms on one end, the installation of drinking fountains and features for handicap accessibility from the outside for a total cost of $28,475.71, which puts the foundation $5,755.71 over budget.
The contractor for the project has pledged $1,000, lessening the overage. The foundation could cover it, but those funds would deplete its bank account. It wants that money for a bit of other interior work at The Mill, plus operating expenses for when it opens.
The city council probably will decide Monday night whether the fulfill the request.
The Mill, which featured a Dutch-inspired design and a turning windmill, opened on U.S. 66 in 1929. The restaurant fell into decline during the 1980s and closed in 1996, until a local preservation group bought it about 10 years ago and gradually restored it.
Ladd’s comments about accommodating transgender people — whatever you think of the issue — probably shows foresight. It wouldn’t be surprising if in the not-too-distant future lesbian, gay bisexual, transgender and queer people become a protected class under federal civil-rights laws. The fact the project accepted federal tax money also creates additional urgency to make those accommodations.
So Ladd planning public bathrooms for such an eventuality now would be a considerably less expensive to the nonprofit and taxpayers alike than a retrofitted bathroom in the future.
Plus, there’s this — LGBTQ people are tourists, too. Like everyone else, they want to feel welcomed on Route 66.
UPDATE: The city council approved the request for extra funding, according to the Courier.
“What you did will be remembered in the history of Route 66,” Ladd said.
“This is the city of Lincoln’s birthday present to Route 66 and I thank you.”
(Image of The Mill in 2009 by Brian Marsh via Flickr)