Scouts' Oakdale log cabin to get 'major' rebuild
A log cabin where a Boy Scout troop has met since the early 1930s will be dismantled, restored piece by piece and rebuilt at its site in Oakdale.
“It's a major undertaking,” said Matt Cochran, president of the Friends of Killbuck Lodge, a nonprofit that formed about eight years ago to save and preserve the rustic cabin off Clinton Avenue. About $10,000 has been raised so far, for a project expected to cost between $80,000 and $100,000.
Scoutmaster Tom Taylor said the cabin has been a draw for Boy Scout Troop 248, which has 55 members. “We're unique in that we have our own building,” he said.
Member Sam Miller, 16, of Bridgeville said the cabin persuaded him to choose the troop over another in 2009.
“I thought it was neat they had a cabin,” Miller said.
The 18-by-36-foot structure was more than a century old when it was donated to the troop in the early 1930s. Previously, it was part of the Scott farm property off McKee Road in North Fayette.
American Legion Post 171 of Oakdale provided the land, and in 1932 the cabin was dismantled and moved there. The structure was named Killbuck Lodge for a Native American chief of the Delaware tribe who figured prominently in Pittsburgh area history.
Friends of Killbuck Lodge bought the property from the American Legion post in November 2007 for $1, the first step toward making major repairs needed at the cabin.
The work will restore the logs that form the structure, add office and restroom space and provide modern heating and electrical equipment.
A large stone fireplace heats the room now. The cabin's chimney and fireplace will be restored.
Cochran said a combination of paid and volunteer labor will be used on the project.
“We're hoping to add some rooms so other groups can use it for meetings,” said Cochran, 54, of Oakdale.
Taylor said having a place to call its own adds more responsibility for Troop 248.
“If we spill something, we have to clean it up,” said Taylor, 60, of Oakdale.
Third-year troop member Nathan Mavrich, 13, of Oakdale said he is fascinated by the structure.
“Whenever I see it, I think of its history,” Mavrich said.
Karen Kadilak is a contributing writer for Trib Total Media.
