Santa Maria-based Boy Scout Troop 91 is looking for a permanent place to call home.

The Scouts' former home, called The Hut, was recently deemed unsafe for children to occupy, and the troop now holds its meetings in the Pine Grove Elementary School gym.

While the gym is spacious and troop leaders have called it an “excellent accommodation,” there is no storage unit for the troop's camping gear and other equipment.

As well, meeting in the summer may be difficult because the school will be closed, troop leaders said.

Meanwhile, the Orcutt Union School District - which owns the property where The Hut still sits - has plans to develop the property for the district's new charter school, Orcutt Academy, to use.

The Hut's closure was no surprise to Troop 91 members.

“We knew it was coming. Everybody had been warned it was going to happen. We just didn't know when. I think it was more of a surprise at how quickly it happened,” Scoutmaster Jim Calahane said.

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When Orcutt district officials had an architect look at the building recently, the architect brought up concerns, which the district forwarded to Troop 91 leaders.

However, ownership of the building could not be definitively established, and The Hut fell into the Orcutt district's hands because it was on district property.

“The land has always been district land. The Scouts had been using that building there for quite some time,” said Marysia Ochej, the district's assistant superintendent of business services.

Ochej soon determined that it was not safe as a public building and Troop 91 stopped holding its meetings there.

“I couldn't in all good faith allow children to be in that building because it's not a building that's in compliance with school district rules,” she said.

In addition, Orcutt officials have plans for the property.

Though the Orcutt Academy high school will be temporarily housed at Lakeview Junior High, plans call for it to eventually be permanently situated on the Dyer Street property.

The elementary Academy for grades K-8 will take over Winifred Wollam School, Casmalia School District's only campus.

However, there is a silver lining, Scout leaders said.

Since the announcement of the troop's plight, several community organizations have jumped in to help.

The Masonic Lodge off Lakeview Road in Orcutt has been trying to find a workable solution for a permanent home for the Scouts, and there is talk that The Hut could be brought up to code and moved to an unused portion of the Pine Grove Cemetery grounds.

The troop would maintain the grounds in exchange for use of the property, although these plans are preliminary and nothing has been set in stone.

A local resident also has offered the use of his storage unit for the time being.

Earlier this week, Troop 91 met at Pine Grove to prepare for an upcoming backpacking trip.

As the boys weighed their packed bags to make sure they wouldn't be unmanageably heavy for the duration of the trip, Boy Scout Taylor Harms, 12, said he would miss The Hut.

“It's kind of harder to meet. You need a lot of storage because we have a lot of stuff. There's a lot of memories of The Hut.”

Despite his misgivings, Taylor said the loss of the Scouts' home has not affected the spirit of the troop.

Calahane echoed this sentiment.

“We're having fun. Really. The program goes on.”

Natalie Ragus can be reached at 347-4580 or nragus@santa

mariatimes.com.

March 31, 2008