Magens Bay is a little greener with the completed renovation of its two bathhouses in bright green tiles.
Bill Jowers, Magens Bay Beach manager, said the bathhouses hadn't been worked on for about five years, since shortly after Hurricane Marilyn. "They were getting pretty shoddy," Jowers said.
"The bathhouses take a real beating," he said, "because they operate with about 50/50 salt water, and that's really hard on the plumbing." This is especially true in season when hundreds of little, and not so little, feet parade through the houses every day.
Jowers is pleased with the work. It involved tiling all the walls, painting, digging up and re-plastering the footbaths, and installing new flushing valves.
Next up is a new biodegradable septic system, on which work will start Monday. Jowers is enthusiastic about the new system, which will put effluent back into the ground and encourage what he calls "more lush growth."
On Sunday new rates, which the Magens Bay Authority had voted on earlier in the year, go into effect. Entrance fees increase from $1 to $3 for adult nonresident visitors.
Other new rates are:
Adult residents $1
Children under 12 25 cents
Private cars $1
Family rates, monthly $15
Senior citizens, monthly $6
Shed rentals, daily $50
Jowers said that in season this year, the beach will have policemen every day, not just on weekends, as in the past. He added, also, that a troublesome situation between taxi drivers taking one another's spots in the pickup line had been resolved. "Even though it had to wind up in court, they're about 85 percent compliant now," he said.
Jowers noted there's another new and more aesthetic aspect of the beach than the new plumbing. "The Nature Trail is completed and open, and we are working on the arboretum." Both are on the West end of the beach.
