The First Nanaimo Scout Hut is planning to resume operation in weeks rather than months after an outpouring of support from the community.
In the morning of Oct. 16, Jordan Stanley, group commissioner for the 1st Nanaimo Scout Group, woke up to a call from the fire department that a blaze had started on the deck of the building, and at the time the extent of the damage wasn't known.
"As heartbreaking as that is, the fire wasn't as substantial as it could have been, being that it is a log building," Stanley told the News Bulletin. "The fire was put out before it spread too far, and we just had to deal with one damaged [fire] door, the heavy smell of smoke inside and charring outside."
Ten days later, a community group which rents the facility told him someone had broken in. The front door was damaged beyond repair, and inside several items were missing, including a defibrillator. While, the RCMP was able to recover about 80 per cent of what was stolen, the hall had to be shut down. The main door was only able to be secured with a padlock, and one emergency door was completely boarded over where the firefighters had entered.
Additionally, both incidents happening so close together caused a different issue for the Scouts – insurance. The deductible for both was beyond what the group had available.
So, on Monday, Oct. 28, Stanley turned to GoFundMe, hoping to raise $6,000 to cover replacing the doors and locks. By Friday, not only had the group met their goal, they surpassed it, with the largest contributor giving an anonymous $4,000 donation.
"It absolutely blew me away that we surpassed it as quickly as we did, but those funds allow us to replace the door, get it installed, pay for that aspect of it … and any excess funds raised is going to go right back into the group, whether it's helping youths that are unable to afford things like uniforms, camp fees, camping equipment – things like that."
Stanley said the Scouts had expected the fundraiser to take until the end of November to even come close, but with all the financial support from the community, they could potentially have the repairs completed in the next couple of weeks.
First constructed in 1930, the First Nanaimo Scout Hut was listed in the heritage registry as of 2004. When it isn't being used by the Scouts, it's rented out by community groups, including the the Nanaimo West Coast Swing Collective, and through the years has had different groups use the space including a community church and support meetings.
Through the years it also experienced its share of damage. The most significant case was a fire in 1973, resulting in severe damage to the add-on building being used as a kitchen. The scouts rebuilt it with cinder blocks. In 2016, about $1,500 in equipment was stolen from the building. The Scouts recovered some of the gear and replaced what they didn't with community donations.
"Aside from that we've had some vandalism at the hut with people pulling up either the deck boards on the front porch to the skirting boards along the sides to crawl underneath, we've had quite a bit of graffiti on the building over the years we've been painting over every time it shows up. It has been abused before by outside parties."
Following the most recent incident, Stanley said the Scouts will be looking at the possibility of installing further fencing around the front porch to discourage trespassers, among other security features.
