FULLERTON : Izaak Walton Cabin Plan Is Changed

The city’s Community Services Department has dropped plans to hire an architectural firm to study ways to replace a landmark log cabin at Hillcrest Park because the study would be too expensive.

The Izaak Walton Cabin, in a remote, wooded area of the park, was destroyed by fire in December, 1990. The facility, which was built in the 1930s, had been used for meetings by the Boy Scouts, the conservationist Izaak Walton League and other community organizations.

But efforts to find a consultant to study ways to replace the structure--even down to building a new log-cabin facility--have been futile. Seven architectural firms submitted bids, but at an average cost of about $33,000, said Susan Hunt, the director of community services.

“Since funds are limited, it was just too much money,� she said. “We didn’t feel we should spend that much money on a study.�

The city had planned to spend about $15,000 to $20,000 on the study, Hunt said.

Instead, city employees will try to do the work. A new facility would have to have more parking spots and better handicapped access than the old structure. In addition, the city will try to find ways to prevent vandalism to the new building, Hunt said.

The hilltop cabin had been donated to the city by a private owner. The idea to build the structure is believed to have originated when “someone was driving through here in the 1930s and dropped off a load of logs,� Hunt said.

But short of that happening again, there are currently no funds to build a new structure even if a plan is formalized.