UNIONTOWN (January 18, 2024) — Today, the Port of Whitman County Commission voted to authorize the Port Executive Director to sign an Economic Development and Tourism Agreement with the Town of Uniontown. The Port will provide Uniontown with a $25,000 contribution to revitalize the restroom facility in Holzer Park. Uniontown is additionally seeking excess levy for parks in 2025 to provide a $5,000 match, which will meet the projected funding needs. 

The project will include the installation of accessible sinks, handrails, automatic door openers, automatic lighting, and hand dryers, as well as the replacement of heaters, the resurfacing of floors with non-slip epoxy, and repainting. 

The Port is dedicated to supporting town economic development and tourism initiatives in Whitman County and recognizes each town contains unique circumstances.

“These restrooms benefit both residents and tourists but over time, they’ve just become really, really run down,” said Uniontown Town Administrator Wesley Kerr. “They are centrally located near our town’s general store and café as well our local winery, and we are excited for the ways that this improvement can support our local businesses, parks and tourism.”

Uniontown is centrally located on US-195 and thousands of people pass through daily. The Washington State Department of Transportation found in 2017 that 6,000 people pass Holzer Park in Uniontown every day and approximately 120 of those people stop and use the park bathroom. The restroom is the only public restroom between Rosalia, Washington and Lewiston, Idaho—a distance of seventy-two miles—on US-195. Holzer Park is also the location of multiple community events for Uniontown, which draw visitors from across the region. 

“We are excited to partner with Uniontown in the Holzer Park restroom improvements,” Port Executive Director Kara Riebold said. “We have shared commitments of economic development and tourism advancement for Whitman County and know this community facility will be used by many in the years to come.”

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The Port of Whitman County is dedicated to improving the quality of life for all citizens of Whitman County through industrial real estate development, preservation of multi-modal transportation, facilitation of economic development and provision of on-water recreational opportunities. We invite you to explore our website and learn more about our port and the wonderful Palouse region we call home; a great place to live and a better place to work.