Despite a pre-Memorial Day deadline for completion, the new public bathrooms at Wrightsville Beach sit unfinished, even as hordes of tourists prepare to descend on the shores this coming summer. (Port City Daily/Preston Lennon)
WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH — The undertaking of building freestanding public restrooms near the central business hub of Wrightsville Beach is taking longer than expected. The initial deadline, set months ago, targeted an early May completion date. Now, Memorial Day — which represents an incoming, sustained deluge of tourist activity — is right around the corner, and the project is still incomplete and behind schedule.
A toilet shortage could be exposed in the coming weeks, when the town’s population and foot traffic will greatly swell. Previously, Wrightsville Beach leased public bathrooms in a retail building in the same commercial plaza. When the property owner sought to double the rent, the town nixed the lease, according to town manager Tim Owens.