Published: November 04, 2009 09:59 pm      

On-the-job training

Students gain experience through restoration project

Students at Century Career Center are continuing to learn the hard work and dedication involved in restoring historic properties.

Matt Ingles, a junior and second-year student of the school’s building trades class, said the finished product made the hard work worthwhile.

Ingles was referring to a project that began in 2006 in coordination with the city and Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana. The program was created to engage students at the career center in local renovation work.

The students’ first project was completed over the course of 3 years at the Tower House on Eel River Avenue.

Ingles said he had the opportunity to work on the Tower House in its final stages.

“It was really fun,” he said. “We got to give tours to everyone who works around there when we were done.”

The junior said he mostly painted at the property, but he and his classmates completed work on the house’s facade, painted the outside porch and window frames, installed a half-bathroom, tore out unwanted walls and worked with electricians on wiring. They also rebuilt and replaced the roof of the building’s signature tower.

After completion of the Tower House project, students started work on the former Greensfelder Building at 315 E. Market St. Contractors have upgraded the facade of the building, and Century Career Center students have started rehabilitating the second floor.

Kyle Leffert, who teaches the building trades class, said the students started work at the Market Street property in September.

“We have basically done demolition work so far,” Leffert said. “We have moved some doors around and done patching work where the floors had buckled from water damage.”

This week, Leffert and the students were loading dry wall into the building for their work on the property’s second floor. The instructor said the class would be tearing out the ceiling of half of the upstairs and would transition the space into an apartment by year’s end.

“We will be doing everything, basically,” Leffert said. “All the plumbing, heating, electrical work and the drywall. Depending on when we finish all of that, we might do some flooring, like minor tile work.”

Ingles said his work at the historic properties had taught him repair skills.

“In case anything in my house breaks, I will have more knowledge,” he said.

The building downtown, when finished, will be a mixed-use property, with commercial space on the ground floor and residential space upstairs.

Leffert said the restoration work provided his students with practical lessons.

“It teaches them a different aspect of construction,” he said. “It is just a different experience.”

• Jennifer Tangeman is a reporter for the Pharos-Tribune. She can be reached at 574-732-5148 or jennifer.tangeman@pharostribune.com.