The Pleasant View Rest Home is finally resting easy under a new roof, after nearly a year of fundraising and planning with the help of a nearby roofing professional.
Work on the roof began in October and lasted about a month, with the work performed by BB Carpentry of Winamac. BB Carpentry was hired by the Friends of Pleasant View in February, after they submitted the lowest bid for the contract.
According to Kerry Baker, president of Friends of Pleasant View, the local nonprofit organization that spearheaded the roof project, the Friends had originally hoped to begin the roofing work last spring, but the funding had not yet been secured. Baker said that the final cost of the project actually came in below what they had been expected, allowing the county to save about $13,000 from their expected $20,000 expense.
Without the community’s support, Baker said, this project would not have been possible.
However, now that the county home is dry, the Friends of Pleasant View are turning their attention to a barn on the property that the commissioners had previously discussed tearing down. The barn is in a state of disrepair, and the commissioners were uneasy about budgeting money to make repairs on the barn. The Friends would like to save the barn from demolition because they feel the barn holds historical value.
Baker says that while the barn does need repairs, it’s still structurally sound. He said the Friends are in the process of raising funds to repair the barn.
