The Fort Borst Blockhouse is seen in this 2012 file photograph.
The Fort Borst Blockhouse in Centralia is scheduled to be moved from its damp and dark location to its original space along the Chehalis River by the Borst Home this year, according to the Centralia Historic Preservation Commission.
The historic preservation commission will present its plan to the Centralia City Council on Tuesday, Feb. 25. The plan includes seeking public donations, grants and partnering with Centralia High School’s construction class.
Mitchell Smith, the construction class teacher, said his students will pour the concrete foundation and help restore or replace any rotting logs in the blockhouse.
“I’d like them to get involved,” Smith said. “Then they can say, ‘I moved that,’ and it will become a current part of Centralia history.”
Smith, who has helped move houses in the past, led a previous class in building the one-room schoolhouse near the Borst Home.
Historic Preservation Commission member Roy Matson said the project will need a commercial mover along with the help from the students. The estimated cost of the project is about $26,000.
“The real cost of this project is to hire a competent, professional mover,” Matson said.
Initially, the plan was to disassemble the blockhouse like a set of Lincoln Logs, but with many of the logs rotting organizers decided to move the building intact.
Moving the blockhouse intact will also preserve the new roof made of clear cedar shakes, which was recently installed by the city parks department, Matson said.
Sierra Pacific agreed to donate 19 Douglas-fir logs, valued at $2,000, to replace the rotting timber in the blockhouse after it is relocated, Matson said.
Those interested in donating to the project can contact City Finance Director Pam Nelson, who is designating an account for donated funds.
Matson said the Historic Preservation Commission hopes to start the project within the year.
“We are ready to go ahead with some fundraising and the high school is ready to go ahead with construction,” Matson said.
Local historian Margaret Shields told The Chronicle the blockhouse was built in 1856 as protection for the pioneers. However, the house was never used for protection, but was used for storage of grain.
The blockhouse, originally located by the Borst Home along the Chehalis River, first moved to Riverside Park around 1916, Shields said, About ten years later, it was moved to its current location in Fort Borst Park.
