The north alleyway of the downtown square in Jefferson is suddenly looking quite different lately.
The beginning stages of the three arches for a project by Tower View Team called “Arch Alley” is underway. TVT Chair Deb McGinn describes the three arches will be in the alleyway. The arch closest to the street will have aluminum castings on the sides featuring drawings from a workshop that artist David Williamson did with members of TVT, along with the main arch that highlights the arches found on the Royal Jewelers building.
McGinn says the second arch features the county’s youth, with workshops that Williamson had with the kindergarten-6th grade Paton-Churdan and the Greene County 4th grade art classes.
“Those will show their pathways to school and what they wear to school. So David has put them on the front of small t-shirt castings, and there will be pants as well that represent the jeans they all wear.”
McGinn points out the main second arch will be a new design from adult community member workshops, which will tell the story of how the community will be viewed in the future. The third arch will honor the manufacturing businesses in the county with round aluminium castings.
“Such as PowerLift with the weights that they create, to the disks that John Deere in Paton manufacture for their tractors, to the gears found in the things over at the New Way in Scranton, to that target that (Olympic gold medalist) Doreen Wilbur is aiming for across the street from where she stands (at the Greene County Community Center). It’s all about us.”
McGinn says other items that will be found in the alley include a poem “ARCS” on a bronze plaque from donated funds from a Greene County Community Foundation, as well as the Jefferson High School Class of 1967, and a donated bench with funds from the Jefferson High School Class of 1968.
Funds for the project originally came from a donation by Home State Bank, as well as a Grow Greene County Gaming Corporation competitive grant. The project is anticipated to be done sometime next year.