Fourteen-year-old Keven Fogleman stands next to the decorations he and his |
A family in the midst of the Popp’s Ferry Road widening project has added a touch of Christmas to a part of the project in front of their home. They’ve decorated a construction portolet with a holiday wreath, stocking and tinsel.
“We just started putting up lights outside our house, and we looked at the outhouse and say let’s decorate that too,” said Peggy Fogleman, whose husband Perry was in the construction business. The couple’s 14-year-old son, Keven, helped, as their 7-year-old daughter supervised.
“We figured the guys would look at it the morning and probably take it down in the afternoon. But they didn’t, and they’ve left it up. They just go in there and start laughing. It’s the neighborhood outhouse.”
The small cubicle was situated near a backhoe and two 15-foot high mounds of dirt Thursday morning. By noon, the two mounds of dirt had been moved as construction workers went about their business on the multi-million-dollar road widening project, which is scheduled to wrap up by November of next year.
Although he stopped short of calling the Foglemans “johnnies on the spot,” Mayor A.J. Holloway said their gesture and friendly attitude is welcome. “Work of this magnitude disrupts lives, and we try to minimize that as best we can. Trying to work with the neighborhood on a regular basis is one of the bonuses of construction management. This shows that our crews have done a good job on that.”
In fact, contractors worked with the Foglemans to save a palm tree in city right of way near their property line. “My husband asked them if they could save, and we also asked them if they could try to keep people parking by it. That’s when they parked the outhouse there.”
The Foglemans moved to the home from St. Martin over a year ago. They were aware of the project, and have been a little surprised by the size of it. In front of their home, the city will have a three-lane road with, curbing and sidewalks on each side.
But no portolet.
Said Fogleman: “We’ll just decorate the palm tree they saved next year.”
