By SHELLEY TERRY - Staff Writer - sterry@starbeacon.com
By SHELLEY TERRY
Staff Writer
sterry@starbeacon.com
JEFFERSON — Visitors to the village’s newest park will have an extra amenity next year.
A group of masonry students from the Ashtabula County Joint Vocational School are building a 24-foot by 24-foot restroom, just east of the playground on South Market Street.
The village of Jefferson bought the playground property from the Jefferson Area Local School Board for parks and recreation use. Nearby, workers are demolishing the old Jefferson Elementary School.
Eight students and their teacher, Larry Divine, were laying cinder blocks Thursday afternoon for the new restrooms. They have been working off and on, on the project, since early September.
“It’s pretty fun to work out here,” said ACJVS student Patrick Alessi, 17, of Conneaut.
Classmate Larry Sancilli, 18, of Andover, said he’s been doing “a little bit of everything” on the project. He’s also found it to be quite enjoyable, he said.
About a dozen students have laid a concrete foundation for the single-story restrooms, which will have separate facilities for men and women, plus a storage area, Divine said.
The building will be completed next spring.
ACJVS student Dwight Shinkle, 18, of Rock Creek credited Divine for the good work.
“He’s the best teacher,” he said.
A Conneaut resident and fellow student, Zackary Wilson, 18, said the hands-on experience helped him discover he really likes masonry.
“I also did a fireplace (for a friend),” he said.
The Save Our Community Center Board in Jefferson paid for the building, and the plans were drafted by the Jefferson Rotary Club.
