PORT TOWNSEND — After six years of fundraising and construction, volunteers will celebrate the grand opening of the new Fred Lewis Scout Cabin on Sunday.
People will gather beginning at 2 p.m. at the cabin on a 3-acre plot at LeRoy Carroll Park on the corner of Mill Road and Discovery Road, bordering state Highway 20 just south of town.
Informal greetings, tours and refreshments will precede a 2:30 p.m. ceremony, which will begin with a symbolic opening of the main doors by the so-called “Geezer Patrol,” which is composed of the volunteers, many well beyond retirement age, who built the cabin.
A flag-raising and short speeches are planned, as well as the cutting of a ceremonial cake.
The 2,000-square-foot building has a large meeting room, a kitchen, two restrooms and an office, along with a large basement to store supplies.
The main floor is a wide-open space constructed with rustic wood.
The kitchen and restrooms are at one end of the large room, and there is a small office and a loft that will be used for storage.
Project coordinator Ralph Ericksen said the final cost for the construction will be about $300,000, an amount that would have been more than double if volunteer labor and community donations were not available.
The plan is that the cabin will be a center for Scouts, both local and visiting, and that it will be rented for weddings or parties.
Local Scouts are from Boy Scout Troop 1477, Cub Scout Troop 479 and Sea Scout Troop 1697. All are members of the Mount Olympus District of the Chief Seattle Council.
Rentals to non-Scout groups are intended to alleviate expenses, according to board member Norm Stevens.
A diverse group of community members have supported the venture to replace the log cabin built in the 1930s on land donated by Port Townsend businessman Fred Lewis.
The original property was sold in 2003 by the Chief Seattle Boy Scout Council, and the cabin was torn down.
The Chief Seattle Council since then made an initial contribution to the replacement project.
Donations, according to Ericksen, have driven the project since the beginning, when it had a core group of eight people.
“We’ve done most of this ourselves,” Ericksen said.
For more information, phone Stevens at 360-379-6960 or 360-301-2371, or email seascoutfalcon@cablesspeed.com; contact Pat McMinds at 360-385-2478 or dougnpat@olypen.com; or visit www.scoutcabinpt.org.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
