Ground broken on new school bus shelter

Van Wert independent news

The 2017 Van Wert County Leadership Class conducted a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday for a new bus shelter being built at the former Washington Elementary School site on Prospect Avenue.

The leadership class, a program of the Van Wert Area Chamber of Commerce, decided on the project and raised funds by selling personalized bricks and pavers to be placed at the shelter site, while also seeking donations from local businesses and organization.

Primary donors to the project were Eaton Corporation ($3,500), Van Wert Service Club ($2,000), and Avangrid Renewables ($1,000). The total raised so far is $14,000, nearly all of the estimated $15,000 cost of the shelter. The Service Club’s donation will be used to purchase a recycled plastic bench to be placed in the shelter.

Van Wert City Schools and the Van Wert Youth Football organization have pledged to make up any difference between what has been raised and the final cost of the shelter, which is being built by local contractor Alexander & Bebout.

Work will begin on the shelter after school is over this spring, with completion set for mid-July.

Chamber President/CEO Susan Munroe praised the leadership class for its fundraising efforts.

“This year’s class has set the bar for fundraising,” Munroe said. “I just can’t express how proud I am of this year’s class, for your dedication and your work.

“They just all came together and exceeded their goal,” she added.

The shelter, like a combination shelterhouse/bus shelter planned for the Franklin Park project on the east side of Van Wert, will provide a dry, safe place for students to wait for school buses on inclement mornings.