Boise’s literary hub The Cabin will be moving to Julia Davis Park. The building is set to be relocated to make room for a new and bigger library that will be built along Boise’s Capitol Boulevard.
At the November 27 city council meeting, a 4 to 2 vote decided the future of The Cabin. It’s definitely going to be relocated, but specifically where it ends up is still unknown.
City leaders were presented with five options for the future of the 1940s wooden structure. Two possibilities would’ve seen The Cabin stay at its current location. The design of the new library would’ve been altered to accommodate it. Two more plans proposed moving the building to the north part of Julia Davis Park, while the final option called for relocating it adjacent to the Boise Art Museum.
Kurt Zwolfer, the executive director of The Cabin, says the literary group is leaning toward only one of the possibilities.
“The only option we thought was viable was the one that was located in what is now the Parks and Recreation maintenance yard a little bit north of the Black History Museum and the Lincoln statue,” says Zwolfer.
The term “maintenance yard” brings to mind the sounds of clanging and trucks backing up and beeping.
Zwolfer says it’s unfortunate the land the group is eyeing specifically is defined as a maintenance yard, but he sees a lot of positives in the location.
“It borders Julia Davis Park and can easily be landscaped to be continuous from the park itself,” Zwolfer says. “We need quiet, contemplative space for our patrons to write in, but we also need programming space outside to do readings and receptions.”
Over the next month, Zwolfer says The Cabin and city officials will negotiate the specifics of where the building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, will land.
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