METRO TECH STUDENTS DIG IN TO HELP RESTORE WESTWARD HO'S BEAUTY AND EARN CREDIT FOR IT

Excerpt from Arizona Republic; Phoenix, Ariz.; May 5, 1990; by Thomas Ropp; Photos by Charles Krejcsi

The pounding was resounding, but residents of the Westward Ho weren't complaining.

Metro Tech students were putting the finishing touches on a ramada in inner courtyard garden of the Westward Ho, Fillmore Street and Central Avenue in downtown Phoenix.

''Metro Tech has adopted Westward Ho,'' said Paul Hatch, a counselor at the school.


Metro Tech students work on the ramada in the courtyard garden of the Westward Ho in downtown Phoenix. Metro Tech, 1900 W. Thomas Road, is a vocational high school. The Westward Ho is a former downtown luxury hotel converted into a 350-unit, low-cost-housing facility for senior citizens and the disabled.
During the past two years, Metro Tech students have been earning high-school credit by helping residents restore the beauty of the old hotel's courtyard. Students have trimmed bushes, planted flowers, painted pool furniture, built a barbecue and put in a garden room.
The counselor discusses projects with resident Mary Jones, 85, a former Wickenburg teacher who has lived at the hotel for 9 1/2 years and acts as overseer of the courtyard garden.

The Metro Tech-Westward Ho relationship officially began when Jones wrote a letter to the editor of The Arizona Republic asking for community assistance with the garden. Metro Tech came to the rescue.

Jones, an avid gardener herself, did much of the garden's landscaping until recent surgery prevented her from digging anymore. ''I have too many artificial joints,'' Jones said. ''Last year, I got two new knees. And before that, I got a hip.''

''Mary is our bionic lady,'' Westward Ho Manager Pat Fritchey said. Then, more seriously, she added, ''This help we've had in our courtyard is something I couldn't budget;it's provided an important comfort for our residents.''
Carpentry instructor Ron Butler and Westward Ho resident Mary Jones, who oversees care of the garden, review building plans while students work. ''We're old, and we can't do some of the things we used to do,'' Jones said. ''These young people have been wonderful.''
Community involvement also plays into Metro Tech's hands-on approach in teaching students a skill. Students from the school's masonry program built the barbecue area; carpentry students are constructing the ramada.

Carpentry instructor Ron Butler said his students have worked on houses and patios, but the ramada project is a first. ''This project allows them to learn about post-and-beam construction,'' Butler said.

The Westward Ho's owner, Bill McFadzean, said he believes the hotel is in its best shape in years because of community interest. ''It was getting pretty close to a flophouse when we took over 10 years ago,'' McFadzean said.

''Everybody said the conversion couldn't be done, and besides, they didn't want these old people downtown. But they were already here, living in rattraps.''

McFadzean looked over at the Metro Tech students driving nails and inspecting beams.

''But it has all worked out beautifully,'' he said. ''These kids, whether they know it or not, are going to talk about this for a long time.''