ALTON - Thanks to some hard-working Alton High School students, James H. Killion Park at Salu is undergoing a lot of positive changes, even without state funding for the projects.
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The most recent project is collaboration between Alton High School’s new vocational class and the city of Alton.
Some of the high school football players were also out at the park on a recent Saturday doing repairs and cleaning up, even after a Friday night football game.
“Honestly it is pretty cool,” Alton Mayor Brant Walker said of the effort with the Alton High School students. “Our kids in Salu neighborhood and the vocational kids have been giving back to the community. These kids are probably 15 or 16 and one day 20-30 years from now they will be playing with their kids at the park and have an opportunity to point out what they did at the park. It shows they are taking pride in their community and give back to the neighborhood.”
State grants are frozen for many of the needed park repairs and improvements in Alton, so his team has to be creative, Walker said. He said this is just another way of thinking outside the box and also teaching the youth about construction.
Part of the plan at the park is to resurface the basketball courts and redo the bathrooms and make them operable for the public.”
Alton Public Works Director Bob Barnhart said the new roof on the bathroom that is being done now will be quite an improvement for the future.
“As we looked at the repairs on the bathrooms at Salu, we thought the first thing to do was make sure the roof is secure and update so the repairs indoors won’t be drenched every time,” Barnhart said. “The Alton School Board reached out to the mayor and asked if there were any problems he enlist the help of the students in their trade class and this was one thing we came up with. We are hoping to do more projects with the school after this one.”
Work on Salu Park started last Tuesday. Republic Waste stepped forward when they saw a need to dispose of the old shingles on the Salu bathroom roof and that is a big contribution to the effort, Barnhart said.
“We hope to have the bathrooms open by next summer,” Barnhart added. “This is a great way for the students in building trades class to get more practical or hands on experience, performing construction and carpentry work. This is a good way to get the kids involved in the community, engaged in the park again and build self esteem in the kids. In the future when they go by the park, they will take pride and ownership in it.”
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