04:27 PM PDT on Thursday, June 29, 2006

KREM.com, Jared Dillingham

Check out Finch Lodge and listen to KREM 2's Jared Dillingham talk with both sides of the debate

Spokane -- A controversy is dividing the Inland Northwest Council of Boy Scouts.

Finch Lodge near Diamond Lake has been the site of many Inland Northwest Boy Scout retreats in the last 80 years.

At a town hall meeting in Spokane Wednesday night, the council discussed tearing down a historic lodge on Diamond Lake, north of the city. The plan met opposition from those who want to save Finch Lodge, built more than 80 years ago. Since then it's hosted more than half a million Boy Scouts.

Hundreds of former Boy Scouts are now speaking up in defense of saving Finch Lodge. Many of them continue to volunteer there and do not want to see the building torn down. Several engineering studies say Finch Lodge has a crumbling foundation, electrical problems, and many other code violations.

The Boy Scouts Council will make a decision this summer over whether to tear down Finch Lodge, or remodel it without destroying it.

People working to keep the current lodge don't dispute the studies, but want to keep the lodge for sentimental reasons, and renovate it rather than knock it down. Some have suggested building a new addition to the lodge. Both sides of the debate disagree over the cost of tearing Finch Lodge down, or remodeling it.

Local Boy Scouts have put off a decision on the lodge's future for 25 years. A final ruling is expected sometime this summer.