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Construction Underway at Grass Island Shack in Guilford

After months of planning and fundraising, construction is now underway at the Grass Island Shack. More than 30 volunteers came together to begin demolition in early September with the hope of having a new roof and porch on the shack by late October.

The project is the brainchild of Eagle Scout candidate John Markowski, who established “Save the Shack” as his Eagle Scout project back in 2015. Since November of last year, he has been working on the fundraising part of the project. To date, Markowski has raised $26,000 through fundraisers and a matching grant from the Guilford Foundation of up to $10,000.

Markowski previously said he is looking forward to tackling the construction element of the project.

“The first stage of the project is removing the old deck and roof,” he said. “I would like to start that as soon as possible to get the project underway. Once those are removed, the center section of the structure will be straightened. Once that is completed, the next phase will be to put on the new deck and roof,” he said. “After that, cosmetic work will take place such as painting.”

The town currently owns the little red shack. The current structure was once privately owned and erected in 1930, after a fire burned down a circa-1900 summer cottage on the grounds. In the 1950s, it was pushed up the beach to higher ground to avoid rising waters. In 1963, the shack and its perimeter of land were given to Guilford.

The next work party is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 8 at 8 a.m. To learn more about the project or to donate, visit www.savetheshackguilford.com. Any changes or cancellations will be posted on the website.