In the early 1930's shortly after the formation of the Santiam Girl Scout Council, the fathers of local Girl Scouts decided it would be good for the troops to have a place to meet. They went to the city and were given a lot on which the taxes were delinquent. This was at 14th and Takena streets. The Works Progress Administration then built the original cabin on this site in 1932 with donated materials.
In the beginning, the neighbors in the area were not at all sure they wanted an unknown quantity like a Girl Scout hut in the midst of their residential area. (There have been occasions during the history of the use of the building when there were overnight camping parties and things may have gotten a little noisy!)
In the early 1960's the cabin had fallen into disreputable condition. It had run down and was nearly unusable as a meeting place. Some of the troop leaders went in and cleaned up the building. They received $100 from Santiam Council and used it to purchase lumber and plywood from which they built shelves and cupboards for the kitchen and a work area. A coat of paint applied by some of the older girls and a refurbished floor made for a more useable and pleasant place for troops to meet.
By the early 1970's the Girl Scout Cabin was all but condemned as unsafe to use. (It was reported that girls could step through the floor of the old building.) With $4 in the bank, a fundraising campaign was begun in January 1973 that raised over $17,000 in money and materials that culminated with the dedication of the new building in 1974.
In the mid-1990's, the large meeting room was carpeted, using donated funds, to help make the room warmer and quieter. Also, around this time, a Boy Scout Eagle Award project was completed that added a handicap accessible ramp to the building and adapted one of the bathrooms for handicap access.
In early 2004, it was apparent that the original 1974 roof needed to be replaced. (The original roof was covered by shingles that were locally sawn and split from a donated Sweet Home cedar tree.) A fundraising campaign collected approximately $9,000. That, along with donated materials and labor, permitted a new insulated, 50 year roof to be installed in September of that year. Some of the funds were carried over and with a little more fundraising, a new furnace was installed during the Summer of 2005.
Throughout the history of the Albany Program Center generous donations of money and materials by local businesses and individuals have helped create and maintain the building. In addition, if it were not for the efforts of local volunteers to fundraise, donate money, materials and most of all personal time to build and maintain the building, the program center would not be the warm and inviting place that has nurtured thousands of Girl Scouts.
