Boy Scout lodge decision on hold

Boy Scout officials have postponed a decision about the fate of a historic lodge at Diamond Lake until September.

The executive board of the Boy Scouts’ Inland Northwest Council was scheduled to choose one of several potential plans Thursday night for the 83-year-old dining hall at Cowles Scout Reservation, including renovation and replacement with a new building.

A group of local volunteers has called for preserving Finch Lodge, saying its historical significance to both Scouts and the community merits the cost of rehabilitation. Council officials, however, say creating a safe, larger, year-round structure for a future Cub Scouts camp at the site is the Scouts’ primary mission; preservation is not.

The delay is a temporary victory for preservation supporters, said Scouting volunteer and renovation advocate Greg Mott, who has been involved with Camp Cowles for about two decades. A September time frame will allow more people to be involved, he said.

“I always did distrust quick summer decisions,” Mott said.

Initial council documents estimated that a new building might cost $1.6 million to $1.8 million, whereas renovating the lodge might cost $3 million to $6 million, numbers that preservation advocates criticize as highly inaccurate.

Officials maintain that the lodge would need an expansion and several upgrades, including wiring and plumbing. A Scout engineer who examined the building this spring reported that the building doesn’t meet code and recommended that it be replaced with a steel and concrete structure.

But the owner of a Spokane construction company specializing in historic renovation who visited the building last week recommended preservation.

Len Urgeleit of RenCorp wrote in a letter to the council that the lodge might not need to meet all building codes, that renovation could be less costly than a new building and that a recycled building would be more environmentally friendly.

“I have been renovating buildings for 10 years and have yet to have a renovation cost more than demolition and new construction,” Urgeleit wrote.

Board members discussed the letter at Thursday night’s meeting. Scout Executive Tim McCandless said the council must prioritize spending on programs because it must raise all money for Camp Cowles improvements. He also said the council would want to bring a renovated lodge fully up to code to keep Scouts safe.

An option calling for Finch Lodge to be maintained and a new lodge built nearby is gaining renewed interest, McCandless said.

The council has received mixed public feedback via e-mail and through Scout leader meetings at council summer camps, he said.

The craftsman-style lodge was designed by Spokane architect Julius A. Zittel, designer of several landmark buildings, such as Spokane’s Carnegie Library.

William Stacey Cowles, publisher of The Spokesman-Review, is a member of the executive board whose ancestors donated much of the land for the reservation.

The board is scheduled to vote Sept. 21.