SALUDA – The old Saluda Scout hut will now be used by the Boy Scouts again.

Saluda City Council met Dec. 11 and approved a proclamation for the local Boy Scout troop to lease the hut for $1 per year.

 

The city has been discussing allowing the Boy Scouts to use the hut again for a few months and had to research insurance obligations.

 

City manager Jon Cannon said the city has a copy of the insurance provided by the Boy Scouts, which will cover any Scouts and members of the charter organization that are participating in official scouting activity on the property.

 

Cannon also said the city reached out to the city insurance company to find out if the city is covered if someone gets injured in the building because of needed repairs, and found out the city is covered even for leased property.

 

Saluda was approached by Boy Scout leaders Mike Ryan and Ryan Griffin in October, who requested the Scout hut be given back to the Scouts.

 

Ryan told commissioners in October that the Scouts took over the hut about 15 years ago and it was in really bad shape, with the troop spending about $20,000 on the hut. The Saluda Scout troop has been inactive for a while but has a group now that would like to use the hut to meet and for other activities.

 

The hut is located on the city’s McCreery Park property and was built for the Scouts in the 1940s when the city funded the local troop.