PALMER -- State parks around the Valley are getting bathroom makeovers.

OK, so the makeover doesn't include running water or lighted mirrors. But the new public bathrooms are a big update in other ways: Gone is the splintering old brown wood, the green skylights and worn- out locks. In their place are durable concrete buildings made to look like wood and stone.

The new bathrooms are "essentially bombproof; they are fireproof, bulletproof, all the things we typically have to deal with in parks for maintenance costs," said Mat-Su area State Parks Superintendent Wayne Biessel.

Biessel said about 20 restrooms in parks around Mat-Su either have been or will be replaced. The nearly million-dollar appropriation came from the state, he said, as part of an effort to upgrade park restrooms throughout the state.

The restrooms at Finger Lake State Park on Bogard road were replaced last year. At Kepler-Bradley Lakes State Recreation Area, the restrooms in the main park were replaced this month, as were long-closed restrooms at Canoe Lake and at Long Lake.

Restrooms at King Mountain State Recreation Site near Chickaloon, Nancy Lakes State Recreation Area in Willow, Big Lake North access and Independence Mine are also on the list for replacement, he said. So are all the restrooms in Copper Basin area parks.

The buildings are all made by CXT Inc., a company owned by manufacturing giant L.B. Foster Co. The units are prefabricated in the Lower 48, then barged up from Seattle. The state paid for a crane to set them in place, Biessel said.

"We feel they're kind of the latest in toilet technology," he said. "They come complete with toilet paper hanging on the roller."

Dan McDonough, who owns Lifetime Adventures, the company who operates Kepler-Bradley, Finger Lake and four other parks in Mat-Su, said the new restrooms are getting good reviews, both from employees and park users.

"They're definitely much more pleasant, not just to clean, but I think anyone using it would consider it cleaner," he said. "It makes the whole park look a little brighter and cleaner."

If there is a downside, he said, it's that the new floors are painted concrete and look dirty quickly, so there's more mopping to do.

But because the porous concrete is painted it's less likely to absorb odors over time, he said, meaning the new facilities might not be as smelly in 10 or 15 years as their old wood and bare concrete predecessors.

Find Daily News reporter Rindi White online at adn.com/contact/rwhite or call her at 352-6709.

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