Columbia Boy Scout Jake Hennes stands on the restored brick path at the entrance to the Miller-Fiege Home. (Sean McGowan photo)

Jake Hennes of Columbia recently took on the challenge of helping beautify Columbia’s Main Street, and with much success.

Hennes, 17, has been a Boy Scout since he was about 10 years old and chose to restore the brick paver path at the entrance to the Miller-Fiege Home for his Eagle Scout project. He said he has not yet had his Eagle ceremony.

“I think it looks pretty good. The whole project turned out well and the brick should last a long time,” Hennes said. “I like that I got to help the (Historic Main Street Columbia Association). It’s cool to be a part of that.”

One of the focuses of the association is to work with property owners to renovate storefronts and historic buildings to maintain a high-quality appearance along the downtown area. In December,

Hennes took on the renovation when the city contacted his troop about the opportunity.

Hennes said he began the project keeping in mind the importance of preservation, which required peeling back the grass to get a good look underneath the brick.

“We had to see the quality of the brick to see if it was reusable to keep the historic look,” he said.

The restoration also involved taking out the bricks and washing and cleaning them, digging out the uneven, rocky dirt and leveling it out before putting in some sand and rock, and leveling that out. He also added a board on both sides of the path to hold the brick in place.

“It had eroded out underneath and one side was longer than the other,” he said.

According to Hennes, weather and scheduling were the two main challenges he faced along the way.

“We had to cancel a couple of work days because we were doing the work in January and February, so there was some bad weather. And it’s not a large space so not a lot of people could help,” he said.

Columbia Troop 320 scout master Chris Neumann said Hennes has come a long way in his scouting over the years.

“I’m very proud of him for his efforts in bettering the community. It’s a long process to get to the Eagle Scout rank and he’s always done it with a cheerful and giving attitude,” he said.

Hennes said he plans to continue with scouts “as much as I can, but I’m really busy with high school stuff,” adding that after high school he would possibly pursue “something with math or science, but that leaves it open.”