ACADIA NATIONAL PARK – The National Park Service is seeking public comment through Jan. 17 on a $350,000 improvement project at Sand Beach. The project would enhance visitors’ experience and ensure that facilities are accessible to the handicapped.

Len Bobinchock, acting Acadia National Park superintendent, said Sunday he expects the Sand Beach improvements to be completed by next fall.

To mitigate any impact on the tourism season, construction will be limited to the so-called “shoulder seasons” of May through June and September through October.

The improvements, such as many others under way or planned at the park, are long overdue, Bobinchock said, and the Sand Beach work should last for decades.

“This kind of work doesn’t come along very often,” Bobinchock said, “so we want to build it to last.”

Under the proposal, the park service would demolish the two changing room structures at Sand Beach, rebuild one of them on the same site and erect a new, smaller building on the other site as a lifeguard storage building and office.

Park officials noted in their environmental assessment report on the project that the two changing stations, featuring 12 changing rooms each, are “rarely, if ever” needed at the same time.

What the park service needs, according to the report, is space for lifeguard equipment and an office where lifeguards can prepare reports and do other administrative work.

By sacrificing one of the changing room structures, the park will return 180 square feet of space to vegetation because the lifeguard structure would be half the size of the existing building.

The project also includes significant upgrades to utilities, including water and sewer, in addition to adding new electrical service to the Sand Beach comfort station and proposed lifeguard office.

Electricity also will be extended to the new changing room structure and bus shelter, according to the report.

Park officials have concluded that the project would have negligible impact on vegetation and other natural resources, or wildlife habitat.

Meanwhile, the project is expected to have a long-term, beneficial effect on visitor use and experience and park operations and infrastructure, the report states.

Other components of the plan include:

. Constructing an accessible ramp between the comfort station and new changing room structure.

. Rehabilitating the interior and exterior of the station, including making the interior handicapped-accessible.

. Constructing a year-round handicapped-accessible toilet in the lifeguard building.

In developing the Sand Beach project, park officials rejected another alternative that would have been costlier and more disruptive to the environment, according to officials.

They also dismissed the option of doing nothing.

Meanwhile, construction of a new Sand Beach entrance station began this fall and should be ready for full use next summer. The new station is being financed with user fees, while the visitor facilities project was included in the NPS’ congressional budget request, Bobinchock said.

Sand Beach and the Ocean Drive area of Acadia National Park are second only to Cadillac Mountain in popularity, Bobinchock said.

A copy of the environmental assessment for the Sand Beach improvement project has been distributed to federal and state agencies, as well as town offices and public libraries.

The NPS will accept comments on the plan until Jan. 17 by writing to Bobinchock at P.O. Box 177, Bar Harbor 04609; or by contacting Judy Hazen Connery by e-mail at judyhazenconnery@nps.gov