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Austin Log Cabin to undergo renovations after donations
By ROBERT CONNELLY
AUSTINTOWN
Renovations are coming to the Austin Log Cabin thanks to two large donations.
Joyce Pogany, president of the Austintown Historical Society, said she is grateful to all donors who have sent in money for a roof project at the township landmark at 3797 S. Raccoon Road.
“I say thank you to everyone [who] has donated anything,” she said.
Pogany said two main donors came forward after a Sept. 1 Vindicator article on the society seeking $3,500 for the cost of new wood shake shingles.
She said she saw the story at 8:15 a.m. that morning, and an hour later a man called to donate the full cost of the shingles. A local roofing contractor will provide free labor to tear off the old roof and install the new one.
Pogany did not identify the donors or the roofing contractor.
Pogany worked with society member and Austintown township trustee Ken Carano to raise funds for the renovation.
The day after Pogany received her donation, another person reached out to Carano to donate $3,500. That amount will be used mostly on exterior painting work.
“I am just overwhelmed,” Pogany said. “I can’t believe it.”
“Austintown people and businesses seem to always come to the fore when it’s necessary for some funding and some help,” Carano said.
Pogany said other private donors have given amounts ranging from $10 to $100. That will allow for some interior renovation.
She expects the entire project to be done before winter starts.
“Some of those people [who donated] don’t even live in Austintown, and one just wrote a note and said thank you for everything you do for our county,” Pogany recalled.
The combination of a new roof and exterior paint work is “one of the bigger things we’ve ever done since the log cabin was discovered.”
The cabin was preserved and prepared for public use from 1973 to 1976 and is named for Judge Calvin Austin, the township’s namesake.
The home originally was set to be demolished, but artificial brick and wood siding was taken off, and the cabin was discovered.
Tours at the landmark are the first Sunday of each month from 1 to 4 p.m., and private tours are also available.