FM senior does his own Old Fort remodel

FORT MADISON – With all the movement to get the Old Fort Musuem renovated and back online and productive, a smaller effort with another Old Fort replica shouldn’t go unnoticed.
Fort Madison senior Ethan Southward took the miniature version of the Old Fort main house that was on the Putt-A-Round Golf Course for the past two decades and rebuilt it as part of his senior project in the Fort Madison High School Construction Trades Program.
In exchange for the work, Putt-A-Round owner Amber Jenkins made a donation to the trades program.
FMHS Trades instructor, Kristi Roach, said Jenkins reached out to her about the project and, after discussion with Michael Schinstock, another FMHS trades instructor, the project was moved to Southward.
Southward is a manager for Roach’s intro classes.
“This project came about last year. Amber called me and asked if I'd be interested in doing something like this and I said, ‘yeah’. Well, the hard part was she wanted to get kids to come (to the course),” Roach said.
She said the tools are at the high school, and there was a liability issue with students working off-site.

“It’s just much easier in the shop under our eyes, so he came out here with a couple other kids and they picked it up and put it in the back of his red pickup truck,” she said.
Pieces of the deteriorated model fell off as the students moved it from the golf course.
Southward said the only original pieces are the door hinges and a robotic movement arm inside the unit.
The new model was built of a white oak, a harder wood. That wood was given at a discount from John Hunold because it was a school project.
Southward had some help on the project with a couple students in the trades program. The new unit is now back on the property and part of the miniature golf course again. Golfers must hit through the open doors to get to the cup on the other side of the model.
The senior graduate has just signed on as an employee with Carl A. Nelson, one of the biggest construction and construction management firms in southeast Iowa.
Southward isn’t quite done with the project as he has offered to come down on his off hours occasionally to replace some of the 2x4s that frame the golf holes at the golf center.