Sounds like one of those only-in-New York ideas: the clay tennis courts at Riverside Park are about to get carbon-neutral, composting toilets.
The thing is, they sound like really nice toilets, especially for athletic facilities. The deluxe, eco-friendly restrooms were proposed by Cook + Fox Architects, the firm responsible for the just-opened Bank of America building, the city’s first skyscraper to receive LEED-platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
PV solar panels will power the bathrooms at the Upper West Side courts, and a flush will send waste into underground tanks, where it will be treated and converted to compost -- meaning there's no city sewer line required. (Which is good, because the sewer system doesn’t extend beyond the West Side Highway, where the courts overlook the Hudson River.)
The -- ahem -- results will help fertilize surrounding gardens, as well as a wildflower meadow that would replace an unused, adjacent parking lot, said Melanie Bean, president of the Riverside Clay Tennis Association. Her group ordered a feasibility study for the toilets and hopes to fund the project with a mix of public and private contributions.
It could take a couple of years to raise the money and build the facility -- or rather, facilities. If all goes well, the bathrooms, like Bank of America's building, would qualify as LEED-platinum.
Environmentalists were naturally excited to hear about the conservation-oriented details of the plan, but what do the park’s tennis players think about their future accommodations?
“I’ll be thrilled," said Upper West Side resident Charlie Mueller while waiting for his court time this weekend. "It’s great that they’ll be making compost and using sustainable agriculture. I’ll definitely contribute ... money, that is. Later on, I guess I’ll, uh, contribute.”
“Anything would be an improvement over those” says Paula Leone, a frequent court user, pointing to the current portable potty station nearby. “And if we take into account the environmental impact of toilets, or anything really, on future generations -- then all the better.”
Not everyone bought into the idea, though. One court user called it "a little disgusting" until his partner, Mitch Wood, tried to convince him. “But it’s all natural,” Wood said. “The design is ingenious, the way it blends in with the park, and the philosophy fits so well with the ideals of these user-built courts. The courts themselves are built with member sweat, member labor -- so this is really appropriate.”
“It will be pretty cool if it’s done right,” said Lynn Bruch, a visitor from Lake Forest, Illinois, as she waited to try the courts. “And if you’re properly hydrated, you’ll need them within 20 minutes."
So maybe it's an idea that can spread outside of New York City after all.
