The shelterhouse at the Bean Blossom Overlook is scheduled to be torn down next month.
Workers plan to be on site beginning Wednesday, Nov. 4, weather-permitting.
The Indiana Department of Transportation, which owns the shelterhouse, announced in a press release Monday, Oct. 26 that the structure would be removed due to “significant” damage.
The posts in the ground at the shelterhouse have rotted, particularly on the back side of it.
“Significant structural damage was discovered during a recent inspection of the shelter, leading to the state and county’s decision to demolish,” it reads.
The concrete slab will remain and the picnic tables will be moved to storage until a new shelterhouse can be built. The building could potentially be built this spring, as INDOT works with the county over the next few months to transfer ownership to the county, the press release said.
Last week, county commissioner Diana Biddle said that caution tape had been placed around the shelterhouse to prevent anyone from going inside it.
She said grants should be available that the county can use to rebuild next year using local contractors and businesses.
This is not the original shelterhouse at the overlook. Biddle estimated this one was built in the 1980s. She said that the county will work to rebuild a “historical recreation” of this one.
The commissioners had been working with INDOT to transfer ownership of the property so that they could make updates to the structure due to complaints they received, Biddle said.
INDOT owns one acre surrounding the shelterhouse.
In September 2018, the commissioners unanimously approved working with INDOT to acquire the property and to enter into a memorandum of understanding to work on the shelterhouse while the acquisition takes place.
Around that time, two Boy Scouts, Sam Bowman and Jacob Wooton, made repairs to the shelterhouse as part of their Eagle Scout projects. Bowman was to paint the posts and try to straighten them out and repaint the sign there. Wooton was to install new picnic tables and grills.
The demolition may be rescheduled due to inclement weather, INDOT stated.
