Patrons of the Hilton Coliseum will no longer need to put the call of nature on hold quite as long, thanks to some renovations currently underway.

In several months, Hilton will have remodeled bathrooms, as well as some brand new additions, making the inconvenience of waiting in lines for the bathrooms less of a problem.

The new restrooms are just one stage in a three-part plan to improve Hilton.

Presently, Hilton contains three restrooms for men and three for women. The northwest corner is the only location that contains restrooms for both men and women.

The new restrooms will be constructed around existing restrooms, North said.

“You will be able to go to any corner of Hilton to access restroom facilities for both sexes,” said Randy Baumeister, Iowa State Center director of operations.

The majority of the changes will affect the women’s restrooms with the construction of four additional restrooms, eventually totaling 26 water closets per restroom.

The change in the men’s restrooms will include the remodeling of the existing facilities, creating the same structure of restrooms currently in the northwest corner.

Men’s bathrooms will receive 36 new fixtures, while women’s restrooms will receive 64. They will all comply with water and energy building codes, Parsons said.

Other changes will be taken into consideration to satisfy fire safety codes and requirements for the Americans with Disabilities Act, including handrails in seating areas and fire-safety improvements by additional exit doors.

“We’re adding two sets of doors on the north entrance and widening the stairs,” said Mark North, executive director of the Iowa State Center. “Also, we’re providing a second means of exiting from two of the second-level meetings rooms.”

North said the elevators were not rated for emergency-exit purposes but will be now.

Funding was not available for these changes before, North said.

He said Hilton met ADA requirements “within the spirit of the law, but when you start doing brick-and-mortar renovations to facilities, you need to start addressing some of those issues.”

The new improvements will cost approximately $3.5 million and will be funded by Hilton’s bond reserve fund, North said.

Construction will be headed by Mike Parsons, a construction project manager for facilities planning and management.

Planning for this project has been underway for several years; construction began last March and will last until October 2002, North said.

He also said although the time period allotted for the construction will run into the upcoming men’s and women’s basketball season, access to some facilities will be complete by then.

The need to improve the amenities to accommodate female guests prompted the remodeling of the Hilton restrooms, North said.

“The people attending the events at Hilton deserve better than standing in long lines,” North said.