A committee seeking to repair and preserve the Boy Scout cabin on the Botetourt Elementary School campus is seeking an agreement with the Gloucester County School Board that will allow it to proceed with the preservation project. 

Boy Scout Cabin Preservation Committee vice chairman Frank Evans and member Daniel Worthington presented a draft memorandum of understanding to the board during its Oct. 10 meeting.

The memorandum of understanding would be between the committee, which the memorandum said was organized by former members of Boy Scout Troop 111, The Fairfield Foundation, and the board. 

The Fairfield Foundation would provide guidance and resources for the preservation project and receive and disburse funds for it, according to the memorandum.

The committee and the Fairfield Foundation seek approval from the board for the preservation project and the continued use of the cabin and site for scout activities for a term of 99 years at a fee of $1 per year.

Worthington said the log cabin was built in 1937 by the WPA, or Works Progress Administration. He described the cabin as a “truly rustic place” with no running water or restrooms.

Evans is the head adviser of Venturing Crew 111, which uses the cabin as a meeting place along with Boy Scout Troop 111. Venturing Crew is a co-educational, senior division of the Boy Scouts of America. 

He said the cabin has problems with termite damage done decades ago and its roof. He also said it has about 12 logs that need to be replaced. Evans estimated the cost of repairs at $50,000 to $70,000 “to do everything that needs to be done.”

Evans said there are grants and willing donors to support the preservation project, and that the memorandum will give the committee the ability to tell people that the money will actually go to the cabin. 

“God forbid a future school board would demolish it and build a parking lot,” Evans said, adding that the cabin has been an integral part of Boy Scouts of America in this area.

Board member Randy Burak suggested that county attorney Ted Wilmot review the memorandum before the board considers the request again during its work session scheduled for tonight at the T.C. Walker Education Center. 

“That cabin has got to be saved,” said board vice chairman Anita Parker. Parker said the cabin had issues back when her sons were members of Troop 111 and the scouts did what they could to repair it.

Worthington later said the cabin was originally built as a demonstration classroom for the former Botetourt High School, and it had once had a kitchen with running water. He said the board agreed to the exclusive use of the facility by the Boy Scouts around 1956, although the agreement “may have only been a handshake.” 

John Hutchinson, an Assistant Superintendent for Gloucester Public Schools, said after the meeting that school officials had not been able to locate a past formal agreement with the Boy Scouts regarding the cabin, but that did not mean such agreement did not exist.