Eagle Scout project benefits historic Vista House on Mount Spokane

The historic Vista House on top of Mount Spokane had new life breathed into it Saturday with the addition of a set of stairs to the old fire lookout on the second floor.

Ashton Finnoe led the construction for his Eagle Scout project, adding a set of steel exterior stairs that will make the second floor accessible to the public for the first time in many years. He began planning the project last year, including taking measurements at the site, but couldn’t complete construction before winter.

Some sources say the Civilian Conservation Corps built the stone house, but a local contractor named E.O. Fieldstad built it in 1933, said Mount Spokane State Park manager Steve Christensen. The CCC – President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal program to put unemployed young men to work – built roads in the park around the same time.

The house has been used as a warming hut, and there was a fire lookout on the second floor for decades. When the lookout was decommissioned, the stairs leading to the second floor were taken out, Finnoe said.

“They just closed the door,” he said.

Christensen said when he arrived at the park 15 years ago he thought of putting an interpretive center on the second floor, but couldn’t do it without stairs. He’s glad to see Finnoe take on the project.

“It’s been one of my pet projects since I got here,” he said.

Finnoe spent the winter finalizing the plans for the stairs, getting approval for the design and lining up businesses and contractors to donate everything from steel to bolts. Not any stairs would do; they had to be strong enough to stand up to heavy snow loads and high winds.

The last step was to recruit friends, family and church members to help install everything.

“This has basically been a full-time project for the last couple of months,” Finnoe said.

Park Ranger Jerry Johnson spent some time at Vista House while the project was underway Saturday.

“It’s hard to get to something like this,” he said. “It’ll be a nice added feature.”

Only a few patches of snow were left on the summit Saturday, but Finnoe and his crew still had to deal with the cold. When it came time to add epoxy into holes drilled into the concrete for the anchor bolts, the epoxy was too cold to flow and had to be brought inside to be warmed by the fire.

Cold or not, the project had to move forward.

“You have to have your project done before you turn 18,” Finnoe said. “I turn 18 on Thursday.”

Finnoe said he looked up to other Boy Scouts who completed their Eagle Scout project and it was something he always wanted to do. “It’s an achievement,” he said.

Steve Smith attends the same church as Finnoe, and his son is in Finnoe’s scout troop. He said he doesn’t have any construction expertise, but he has the strong back needed to help lift the heavy sections of steel into place.

“It’s a big thing for a young man to see all this support,” he said. “It lets him know there’s a community behind him.”

Vista House can be accessed by car once the road is opened, usually in June, or by foot.