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- I wish I wasn't here.
I wish we weren't having this conversations.
-Unfortunately, Steve Levengood is having this conversation because
he's a capital projects coordinator for Seattle Parks and Recreation.
Right now, we're working on stabilizing the building.
The building was red
tagged, it’s yellow tagged now, so we're going in the right direction.
tagged it’s yellow tagged now, so we're going in the right direction.
-And this is the lodge at Camp Long in West Seattle, a beloved building
where countless Seattleites have made infinite memories over the past 80 years.
When the lodge was hit by an arsonist in November 2024, it was almost destroyed.
Steve’s been working for months to save it.
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-Some of the
windows were damaged, the stairs completely gone.
So you know the damage, you know, was structural.
So you know, the damage, you know, was structural.
And also, you know, the items in there are many of them were lost.
- The senseless act of destruction made a huge and very expensive mess.
- We still need to fix the roof and also the beams and the attic.
So we're working on
getting a permit for that because that's that requires a permit.
- But there's something about this building and what it means to so many people.
- But there's something about this building and what it means to so many people
that's inspired Seattle Parks and Recreation to step up
and make sure that it will rise again, poetically,
from the ashes.
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- It was just so beautiful.
They didn't really let us in there very often.
You know, we could peek into the windows and stuff and
and we would see the beautiful stone fireplace.
- Martha Russell took part in Seattle Parks and Recreation
programs at Camp Long back in the 1960s.
- So the City of Seattle had this great program at Camp Long,
- So the city of Seattle had this great program at Camp Long,
and I think it was only a dime a day, something like that.
And that included your milk, and you came down
and you were here from 8 to 3, and it was absolutely wonderful.
- I remember the old fireplace that was down there, and the rocks
back then seemed so huge because it was just a cool old building.
- Sharon Pettit grew up in West Seattle and spent countless hours
at Camp Long as a Brownie and Girl Scout.
- So to have a 68-acre a place where you could go
in the middle of a city was really extraordinary.
So it really saddened me to hear about the fire.
- And maybe this something about the building is the fact that, along
with the personal memories, the lodge is a symbol
of a much bigger story from American history.
Nationwide recovery efforts during the Great Depression in the 1930s.
- I pledge myself
to a New deal for the American people.
to a New Deal for the American people.
- The lodge was built with support
from the Works Progress Administration, or WPA.
The WPA was one of the New Deal programs created
by the Franklin Roosevelt administration to help put people back to work
and to build needed infrastructure in communities all over the United States.
- And the world's best hope for a brighter future the American worker.
- And the world's best hope for a brighter future: the American worker.
- So the construction, you know, is is fairly unique in that regard
because I'm not sure
the WPA really followed a lot of standards or anything like that.
So it's, you know, it's kind of a neat, quirky building and people like it.
- Steve's work is clearly cut out for him.
And while the effort to save the lodge may feel like a foregone conclusion now,
And while the effort to save the Lodge may feel like a foregone conclusion now,
Jerry Osborn, the architect assisting with the project, says that when the team
first arrived to inspect the lodge, nobody was sure of anything.
- The question was, could the building be salvaged or not?
An early discussion was that the building would have to be razed.
An early discussion was that the building would have to be raised.
But once we got inside and saw that, the damage was more localized
than throughout the building, that I think everyone was relieved
that it looked like the building could be restored.
- In the end, the building will actually be better than it was before.
And, hopefully sprinklers will be installed, so this never happens again.
- The restored and improved lodge can't come soon enough
for those with fond memories, but also for the thousands who still count
on using it every year for summer camps and special events.
- You know, kids need this.
You know, especially kids of low income families.
-There are so many adventures and learning experiences here
that you couldn't get anywhere else; restore it and keep it open to the public.
that you couldn't get anywhere else, restore it and keep it open to the public.
- And when the work is done, a lodge with an incredible amount
of history will have a bright future ahead too.
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