Trail Center Update - Crew Cabins!


We are nearing the trail’s end for the campaign and offer our warm thanks to all 471 donors. We must reach the campaign goal to advance construction of the Trail Center main building and maintenance building. 

In June 2023, the campaign received a grant for $75,000 from The Windover Foundation to support the construction of the Trail Center in Skowhegan, Maine. We are profoundly grateful for their generous support. 

Thanks to a partnership with the Maine Army National Guard through its Innovative Readiness Program, roadwork and preliminary construction began in 2022 and continued into 2023. This Program offers free labor, tools, and equipment to municipal and nonprofit entities for projects deemed useful to the Guard as a training exercise.  

In 2022, the 136th Engineering Battalion of the Maine National Guard installed erosion control features, removed stumps, and brought 800 feet of the road to sub-grade. This past June, soldiers built two Crew Cabins (sleeping quarters) at the Maine Trail Center site.  

These two buildings are the first on the site. MATC Corresponding Secretary Doug Dolan coordinated preparations with MATC volunteers clearing the site, meeting with the National Guard team, and ordering materials.  Doug and volunteers also added cedar shingles on both buildings. The cabins will house the Maine Trail Crew on their off days when they are not working on the Appalachian Trail. 

The dollar value of the work the Guard has done so far is $173,466. MATC is deeply grateful to the Guard for their extraordinary partnership with us. 

We will be adding photos of the National Guard’s work on the MATC website. Visit https://trailchampions.matc.org/ 

Popular posts from this blog

October Progress

Image
 Latest progress on the Maine Trail Center as of 10/20/2024 - Main building is basically closed in - Crew cabins are 3/4's shingled - All exterior sheathing done - Interior walls frame - Wiring rough in nearly complete - Road definition complete, only final grading and reclaim remain      
Read more

Trail Center Update - The Road is In!

Image
  Trail Center Progress: ▪ Building Permit received, NO CHARGE! ▪ The road is 90% completed. Working to get utilities, Power, Water, Sewer, permits. ▪ Need to obtain easement from neighbor across street for utility pole guy wire support. ▪ Hashing out procurement process with MATC “supplied items”, ie kitchen, bath, lighting, water heaters with contractor and architects. ▪ Planning small informal groundbreaking 5/22, 23, or 24, no media. Our driveway is named “ Maine Trail Center Drive .”  The Main Building is #45 .  The crew quarters are #54 and #55 . The federal budget was finally signed, making the Collins/King CDS grant of $475,000 a potential reality.   At this writing we await contact from HUD to begin the process of identifying and undertaking the many procedural requirements to utilize the grant monies.   With our project already well underway, we have a lot of questions for HUD.  
Read more

Trail Center Update - Foundation installed

Image
Trail Center Progress: ▪ Utilities stubbed in at the street ▪ Foundation footings, frost walls and slabs poured ▪ Sewer line substantially trenched and run to main building ▪ All soils and concrete testing to date have exceeded specifications Project work will soon commence again on the crew cabins.   Volunteer opportunities will be emailed upon clearance from the contractor. Shingling, painting, interior trim, bunk ladders and cleaning are just some of the things on tap for remainder of summer and into fall.
Read more