Zachery Pittman, 15, of Douglas County has completed an Eagle Scout project by planning and overseeing the construction of a sitting area and water fountain at Douglasville Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.

Keith Wilson, director of the nursing and rehabilitation center, said this was to his knowledge the first Eagle Scout project completed at the site.

Pittman and his fellow scouts from Douglasville’s Troop 900 constructed a fountain surrounded by rocks, built benches, planted flowers and paved a walkway under a natural canopy provided by trees for the elderly and disabled people living at the center.

The fountain and sitting area is near the main entrance, and Wilson said it is “really good for our front area.”

Zachery’s mother, Jacqeline Pittman, said her family lives in the neighborhood closest to the center and often walks to the property with their dog, Paris.

Pittman and his family met Thursday morning with his fellow scouts and residents and employees of the center for a ribbon cutting for the project.

The project took three weeks and over 200 hours of labor to complete, Pittman said.

Pittman, a student at Alexander High School, said it was important to finish his time-consuming Eagle Scout project in his 9th grade summer because he expects to be busy in the near future with his school’s drum corps and next summer will likely be dominated by a part-time job and driving.

With the project complete, Pittman needs three more of the 21 required merit badges to become an Eagle Scout.

An estimated 2 percent of scouts achieve the rank of Eagle, which involves a service project helpful to a religious institution, school or community and merit badge requirements that must be completed before a scout’s 18th birthday.