Built to last
The Lynx is manufactured from precast concrete, including its roof, creating a durable permanent facility rather than a temporary solution. Huffcutt specifies a 20-year structural warranty for the building.
Fundraising progress
Building a more welcoming park
The Mt. Simon Park restroom project is a long-term, community-driven effort to improve one of our most-used neighborhood parks. Donations help move the project closer to the overall $70,000 goal.
Community challenge
$15,000 Community Challenge
One local donor has stepped forward with $15,000. Now they're asking the rest of Eau Claire to match it.
Donor commitment$15,000
Community goal$15,000
Toward Mt. Simon$30,000
An anonymous local donor has committed $15,000 toward the Mt. Simon Park restroom project, creating a community challenge to raise another $15,000 by December 31, 2026.
If we meet the challenge, that means $30,000 toward our overall $70,000 goal and a major step closer to building a permanent public restroom at Upper Mt. Simon.
“Growing up, my neighborhood park transformed my life. I developed my love for sports there and learned the pure joy that comes from gathering with friends for a day of play.”
Anonymous local donor
For this donor, the importance of parks did not end with childhood.
“As a senior citizen, I value our parks even more today for the ways they help me stay socially engaged, physically and mentally fit, resilient, independent and just plain joyful.”
Anonymous local donor
That lifelong connection to neighborhood parks is what inspired the gift.
Upper Mt. Simon has already seen exciting new investment, including the new playground made possible through the Jane Honadel estate. Now this challenge is an opportunity for the community to help complete another important piece of the park.
A playground invites families to stay. A pavilion creates a place to gather. A permanent restroom helps make Upper Mt. Simon a park people can comfortably enjoy for hours.
The donor put it simply:
“For me, supporting this project is one way I can give back and make play more accessible and enjoyable for current and future Mt. Simon Park users.”
Anonymous local donor
Help Us Meet the Challenge
Every contribution moves us closer to matching the full $15,000 commitment. Individuals, families, neighbors, and local businesses can all be part of it. A lot of people giving what they can can turn one generous gift into $30,000 of progress for Mt. Simon Park.
As our donor said:
“With a lot of helping hands, we can make this an easy and fun fundraising lift and improve a community park for everyone to enjoy.”
Anonymous local donor
The challenge runs through December 31, 2026. Help us meet it.
The project
What We're Building
We're not just raising money for the idea of a bathroom. The project is based around a specific permanent public restroom designed for parks and other public settings: the Huffcutt Lynx.
The Lynx is a prefabricated precast-concrete restroom that would provide Upper Mt. Simon with a permanent, plumbed, and lighted public restroom designed to meet ADA and applicable building-code requirements.
Planned restroom model
The Huffcutt Lynx Restroom
- Model
- Huffcutt Lynx
- Manufacturer
- Huffcutt Concrete, Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin
- Construction
- Precast concrete
- Approximate footprint
- 12' 2" × 10' 4"
- Facility type
- Permanent plumbed public restroom
- Accessibility
- Designed to meet ADA requirements
- Structural warranty
- 20 years
Designed for accessibility
Huffcutt's published Lynx specifications state that the design will meet ADA and applicable building-code requirements. Listed features include an ADA-compliant toilet, urinal, sink and faucet, an ADA-compliant threshold, and stainless-steel grab bars.
A real plumbed restroom
This is not a vault toilet or portable toilet. The published design includes a flushing porcelain toilet, urinal, sink, electric water heater, floor drain, sediment filter, plumbing vent, and the supporting plumbing systems expected in a permanent restroom.
Lighting and everyday amenities
The Lynx specifications include interior and exterior LED lighting, a motion sensor, GFI receptacles, and exhaust ventilation. Inside, the design also includes a stainless-steel mirror, coat hooks, toilet-paper dispenser, grab bars, and durable finished surfaces for everyday public use.
Built off-site, placed at the park
Huffcutt manufactures, assembles, and finishes much of the Lynx restroom at its plant before the building ever arrives at Mt. Simon. The completed structure is then transported to the park and placed on site by crane.
That prefabricated approach allows the building itself to be delivered and installed relatively quickly once the site is ready.
Our $70,000 fundraising goal is focused on the restroom building, its delivery, and its placement at Upper Mt. Simon.
A permanent restroom also requires supporting infrastructure such as water and sewer connections, electrical service, site preparation, and other utility work.
Our hope is that, if the community can successfully raise the money needed for the building, the City of Eau Claire will be able to step in as a project partner and help cover or coordinate those additional infrastructure costs.
In other words, the community is working to raise the money needed to put the restroom building itself on the ground. Meeting that goal would put us in a much stronger position to work with the City on the remaining infrastructure needed to connect it and make it operational.
How the project comes together
Community fundraising goal
- Huffcutt Lynx restroom building
- Delivery to Mt. Simon
- Placement at Upper Mt. Simon
Potential City partnership
- Water, sewer, and electrical service
- Site preparation and infrastructure
- Final connections needed for operation
This is what your donation is helping us put in the ground at Upper Mt. Simon: a real, permanent public restroom built to serve families, park users, and the community for years to come.
Why it matters
Why Mt. Simon Park Matters
Mt. Simon is more than a neighborhood playground. It is one of Eau Claire's most distinctive community parks.
Spread across two levels, Mt. Simon offers playgrounds, disc golf, hiking trails, volleyball, ballfields, picnic areas, boating, wooded spaces, and some of the best-known views in the city. It is the kind of park where people come to spend time, not simply pass through. Families stay for an afternoon. Friends meet for a round of disc golf. Kids play while parents visit. Hikers head toward the bluffs, and neighbors gather for recreation and community events.
Upper Mt. Simon has recently become an even bigger destination for families.
A generous $300,000 gift from the Jane Honadel estate helped make possible a new playground and improved access in the upper park. The new playground has brought fresh energy to an area that already includes trails, ballfields, open space, and access to the Mt. Simon bluffs.
But one basic amenity is still missing where all of that activity is happening: a convenient permanent public restroom.
Mt. Simon does have an existing restroom, but it is located in the lower portion of the park, a significant walk from the new Upper Mt. Simon playground. For families with young children, older adults, people attending activities, and anyone planning to spend more than a short visit in the upper park, that distance matters.
That is the problem we are working to solve. The Northside Hill Neighborhood Association is raising money for a permanent public restroom near the Upper Mt. Simon playground, giving families and other park users convenient restroom access where they are actually spending their time.
A great playground gives families a reason to stay. A nearby restroom gives them the ability to stay longer and enjoy the park more comfortably.
This project is not about adding a luxury. A public restroom is basic park infrastructure. It makes Upper Mt. Simon more practical for families with young children, older adults, recreation, picnics, community gatherings, and anyone who wants to spend an afternoon enjoying the park.
Our goal is straightforward: put a permanent restroom where Upper Mt. Simon visitors actually need one and make this remarkable public space easier for everyone to enjoy.
Fundraising
Community Fundraising Events
Building a $70,000 community project takes more than one fundraiser.
Throughout the campaign, neighbors, local businesses, volunteers, and community partners are coming together through events large and small to help move the Mt. Simon restroom project forward. Some events raise a few hundred dollars. Others may raise much more. Every one brings us closer to the goal and gives people another way to be part of the project.
Mt. Simon Park Fundraiser at The Lakely
Our first community fundraiser for Mt. Simon brought neighbors and supporters together at The Lakely in downtown Eau Claire for an evening benefiting improvements at the park.
The Lakely generously donated 20% of food and drink sales during the event to the NHNA Park Fund, while a community raffle gave guests another way to contribute.
Together, the evening raised:
$398.08 for Mt. Simon
Thank you to The Lakely, everyone who joined us, everyone who participated in the raffle, and the volunteers who helped make the evening happen.
Party for the Parks
Party for the Parks is our largest community fundraising event so far: a free celebration bringing together music, recreation, food, family activities, and fundraising for Mt. Simon Park.
Fundraising throughout the day includes direct donations, beverage sales, raffles, the Mt. Simon Classic disc golf fundraiser, a live-art auction, and contributions from participating businesses and vendors.
Explore Party for the ParksIndependent community support
Community Fundraising Wins
Notable donations and independently organized fundraisers are helping move the Mt. Simon restroom project forward one contribution at a time.
Disc Golf Fundraiser
Cheezy Geese Raises $568 for Mt. Simon
$568 raised
Our Information Officer Ian participated in the Cheezy Geese DFX Disc Golf Tournament without realizing the tournament itself would end up supporting our own cause.
Brad Werner and Josh Jennings donated all proceeds from the tournament, a final total of $568, to the Mt. Simon bathroom project.
Thank you to Brad, Josh, and everyone who participated for helping move the project another step closer to bringing a restroom to the Upper Mt. Simon playground and pavilion area.
Help
How You Can Help
Donate
Directly support the Mt. Simon restroom project and help move us closer to the $70,000 goal.
Donate to the Restroom Project
Share
Tell your friends, neighbors, park users, and the broader Eau Claire community about the project and why it matters.
Attend Fundraising
Events
Join upcoming events that bring people together while supporting the Mt. Simon restroom project.
- Saturday, September 12, 2026: Party for the Parks at Mt. Simon Park
- Saturday, September 12, 2026: Mt. Simon Classic Disc Golf Fundraiser
Business & Community
Support
Contact Northside Hill on Facebook
Local businesses, organizations, and individuals interested in larger donations, sponsorships, fundraising partnerships, or in-kind support are encouraged to contact the association.
Thank you to the sponsors helping us host community events and support Mt. Simon through direct donations:
- Donivan's Vending
- Uncommon Rentals
- Fresh Software
- Parco Windows
- L3 Landscaping
- Brickhouse Pub & Grub
- Erin Street Residents
- Westconsin Credit Union
- Computer Wizards
- The Eagles Club