Bio
Jose “Cheo” Bastian is a resident mason at the National Historic Park site in San Juan, Puerto Rico, preserving and restoring the forts of Old San Juan, El Morro and San Cristobal. Bastian is a native of Puerto Rico and like many locals of the region, he spent many weekends on the greens of the forts playing kickball and flying kites. Before Bastian joined the National Park Service, he played professional baseball for the Montreal Expos’ double-A minor league team. Even though baseball is probably as far from masonry as one could get, he did learn lessons that are helpful in his current field. After playing baseball for 11 years, Bastian called it quits and had to find a new line of work. When he started working at the park, he went through a rigorous two-year training period to master the historic methods of masonry.
