DOGGED BY BAD LUCK.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 65, Issue 193, 29 May 1945, Page 4

DOGGED BY BAD LUCK.

ASHBURTON BOY SCOUT TROOP. PROBLEM OF ACCOMMODATION. Bad luck seemed -to have dogged the Ashburton Boy Scout Troop for the last year, said a member of the Scout Committee, when asked to-day to comment on the position regarding accommodation for the troop, which has ! had to vacate the sample rooms in the Armstrong-Fenerty block so that they can house the Municipal Library. About a year ago the troop lost practically all its equipment when a fire occurred in its rooms in Hallenstein’s building. The use of the sample rooms was obtained, and through public generosity most of the equipment was renewed. Now, however, the troop is in trouble again with the problem of accommodation. The scouts’ equipment has been shifted to the premises allocated them in an old two-storey shop in Havelock Street, formerly a Chinese laundry. The principal quarrel with the new quarters is that they are not big enough and that the premises will probably be demolished when war restrictions on building are eased. The shop building, said the member of the committee, is about one-third the size of the sample rooms, which were themselves by no means too large. In addition, there would be great difficulty in controlling meetings of scouts and cubs on two floors at once. Scouts and cubs together total about 80; they are split into groups which necessitate three meetings a week, so that the rooms are called on to accommodate from 25 to 30 boys at a meeting. Games are an essential part of these meetings, in addition to which it is desirable that each patrol and cub six should have its own corner for individual work. Much of the scouts’ equipment has become useless in a cramped space. “The ideal scouts’ meeting rooms would he a building 60 feet by 30 feet with attached rooms and conveniences. One of the Army recreation huts would be very suitable. The number of scouts and cubs in the town could probably he greatly increased if good facilities were available,” said the member.