OJAI : Fate of Historic Girl Scout House to Be Decided by City

Janice Prairie of Ojai has sentimental ties to the Girl Scout House next door to her home that date back to her girlhood. She attended meetings in the nearly 100-year-old structure, first as a Girl Scout and then as a troop leader.

The dark-chocolate brown building with lime-green trim, which was Ojai’s first library, has been moved twice and now sits on land that Prairie’s great-grandmother deeded to the city in 1925 for $10 in gold.

But now, Ojai City Council members are discussing whether the building should be torn down or restored--by the city or a new owner--because the structure is a fire and safety hazard. Signs reading “Danger-No Trespassing” mark the house. The roof and front yard are covered with dead leaves.

“It’s falling apart piece by piece,” Councilman Joseph DeVito said. “It’s an accident waiting to happen.”

City Manager Andy Belknap said he plans to issue a notice that the city will accept sealed bids for the property. Bidders will have two options: They can either buy the land and restore the building, or buy the land and remove the house.

Prairie and her husband, Dennis, plan to submit a bid when the time comes.

“When I hear heavy equipment roll up the street, my heart skips a beat, and I think they’re going to do something with it,” Janice Prairie said, adding that she is almost as old as the 50-year-old trees growing in front of the bungalow next door.

“My first fear is that the city will come through swiftly in the early morning and put the building into a dumpster,” she said. “As Ojai’s first library, it’s a very small but significant part of Ojai’s history.”

The Girl Scout House was built downtown in 1893 as the George Thacher Memorial Library, in the block where the Arcade stands now. The building was moved to South Montgomery Street in 1908 and to its current location at 301 Lion St. in 1938.

In 1985, the city condemned the building after the Girl Scouts, who had maintained it since 1949, could not afford renovations to bring it up to building code requirements. The Prairies offered to buy the building from the city for its appraised value of $42,300 three years later.