Delmont council to take a closer look at future of Shields Farm cabin

Before spending more money on the Shields Farm cabin on East Pittsburgh Street, Delmont officials want to decide what exactly the cabin’s future will be.

“It’s open one weekend a year,” said Councilman Bill Marx, who recently met with officials from the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, which deeded the cabin first to the former Salem Crossroads Historical Society, then to the borough in the early 1990s.

“They said the structure is sound,” Marx said. “Before we put any money into it, they’re going to try and find the origin and significance of it.”

Marx said his research was unable to uncover any evidence or history of the cabin prior to 1983.

“The deed says that if we don’t want it, (the foundation) has the option to take it back, and they’ve kind of said no,” Marx said. “And because the (Salem Crossroads) Historical Society went defunct, according to the foundation we don’t have any obligation. So we can walk away if we want.”

Council has been split on whether to move forward in replacing several damaged logs.

Council spent $3,000 on period-appropriate 18-foot logs in the summer of 2018, only to find out they were not the preference of their chosen contractor.

Council President Andy Shissler announced at the borough’s November meeting that an additional supply of 10 white pine logs was available in Scottdale.

“We contracted with (Elmer Hostetler for about $12,000), so do we know these are logs he’s going to want to use?” asked Councilman Stan Cheyne. “I’m fine holding off until we find out some more.”

Borough resident Annamarie Stackiewicz said the cabin should be fixed and preserved.

“It’s a big part of the (annual Delmont Pilgrimage), and without, I don’t know how we’d do it,” Stackiewicz said. “Not to mention that it could be used much more.”

In order to get more use out of the cabin, or to potentially turn it into a visitors’ center, Marx said the borough would need to add plumbing and restroom facilities.

“We’re arguing over $3,000 spent on logs, and now we’re talking about maybe $4,000 for plumbing,” he said. “Before we spend the money, I think we need to figure out what we want to do with this.”

Money spent on the cabin does not come from taxpayer dollars but rather from the Shields Farm account, which borough officials control.