Throwback To The Memorial Park Bathroom Mural

As the daffodils rise up out of the leaves, we are doing a throwback of this colorful mural on the public bathroom at Memorial Park, which is closed during the winter and will reopen in the warmer weather.

This bathroom was closed for a long time, due to repeat vandalism and reluctance to keep it open. The Highway Department was tasked to clean it, and it was one that nobody wanted to deal with. There was a special key to access it that only a few people had access to.

Under the administration of then Mayor Randy Casale and former City Administrator Anthony Ruggiero in August 2019, this bathroom was painted on, but remained closed. The artist Joe Pimentel painted it with the sourcing of community children organized by the Wee Play volunteer group that conducted most of fundraising for the Tot Park there at Memorial Park.

Later, under the new City Administrator Chris White in 2021, this bathroom was put under the cleaning maintenance of the cleaning crew from Chris’ condo association, which was a minority-owned cleaning service company.

Back then, a longtime Beacon resident, Danielle Soto-Eckert told ALBB: “The bathroom at Memorial Park has been closed literally my whole life. I’m 30 years old and can think of less than 5 times that it’s been open while I was there as a child, and now an adult with kids. I take my kids to Bowdoin Park (in Wappingers Falls) because their bathroom is always open.”

Perhaps one day, the bathroom will be open year round.