Fundraising to cover the cost of putting the Canatara Park log cabin back together appears to be off to a slow start.
The cabin was catalogued, disassembled and relocated to Lambton Heritage Museum two days before Christmas.
About $100,000 is needed to rebuild and restore the nearly 200-year-old structure, but only about $14,000 has been raised since the last week of November.
Cultural Services General Manager Andrew Meyer said the move didn't come without challenges.
"When they got into the disassembly, the initial approach was to remove the roof section in its entirety and then move the lower structure of the building itself in one piece and the easiest approach would be to connect the two pieces," said Meyer. "Unfortunately, given the state of the cabin's deterioration, it was not structurally stable enough to move the lower section of the building as one piece."
Meyer said contractors had to take the cabin walls apart log-by-log.
"Much of it can not be utilized. There's a lot of logs that will need to be replaced, but it can be restored. There's a lot of architectural elements that remain sound and can be used for the reconstruction of the cabin."
The logs are currently being stored in a shipping container at the site, while the roof and floors were relocated, in one piece, to the cement pad where the cabin is to be rebuilt.
Additional funding opportunities are being explored to raise the money for the rebuild.
Anyone wishing to donate can do so here.
A replica of the original cabin is to be constructed at Canatara Park, on behalf of the city, by the Seaway Kiwanis Club.