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Community donates efforts in bathroom renovation
FORT SCOTT, Kan. -- Recent improvements to the downtown Fort Scott area inspired a group of local men to donate about 100 hours of their time to make even more downtown renovations.
According to Fort Scott City Commissioner Jim Adams, he was visiting with a group of friends during lunch one day about the downtown makeover. During the conversation, the men -- Adams; Ron Query, Ron Query Construction; Lynn Dodson, Home Depot; and Rich Willard, Two Brothers Construction -- begin talking about the need for an upgrade to the downtown bathrooms located next to the Heritage Park Pavilion at the corner of First and Main streets.
After much planning and discussing amongst themselves, the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce Downtown Division Committee, the Phoenix Committee and the Master Gardeners, the four men set to work painting the trim at the top of the building and on the door jambs, Adams said. In addition, Query built three awnings that were painted and installed above both bathroom doors and on the door to a maintenance room in between the bathrooms. After the installations, the group placed shingles on the awnings' roofs in order to help them blend in with the rest of the building. According to Adams, the building materials and paint the men used to renovate the building were donated by Home Depot in Pittsburg, Kan.
Dodson said the project took the men longer than they had originally anticipated, but the results were worth their efforts.
"It's incredible the amount of time that goes into a project like this one," Dodson said. "The building looks so much better. It had never been painted before."
Adams said everyone that helped with the project seems to be happy with the end result, and he hopes their efforts will be enough to inspire other community members to volunteer their time to help fix up part of Fort Scott.
"Maybe we'll inspire someone else to take on a little program and make improvements," he said.