This historic building will change as a popular corner of downtown Boise gets a makeover
It could be easy to miss the small cabin wedged between Capitol Boulevard, the downtown Boise Public Library, the Boise River Greenbelt and the Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial.
But that log building has had an outsized impact on Idaho’s literary scene, attracting writers like Louise Erdrich, George Saunders and Michael Pollan. It has uplifted Idaho’s own growing list of award-winning authors, such as east Idaho’s Tara Westover, whose 2018 memoir “Educated” spent two years on the New York Times Bestseller List.
Boise’s Anthony Doerr, whose books include Pulitzer Prize winner “All the Light We Cannot See” and 2021’s “Cloud Cuckoo Land,” brought international attention to the City of Trees and he has given several talks and readings with The Cabin.
Now, nearly 30 years since the organization moved into the building, originally known as the Log Cabin Literary Center, it is looking to renovate and expand its offerings. The change comes in a corner of downtown that has been a hub of activity recently.
“As Idaho’s only literary arts nonprofit, we are working hard to help close the gap with Idaho’s arts education standards,” according to the Cabin’s website. “Our greatest challenge when meeting this need is our lack of space to grow our programming as the community grows.”
Staff and volunteers have made several upgrades since first leasing it from the city of Boise, said Kurt Zwolfer, executive director of The Cabin. These include adding a classroom and putting in ramps and an elevator. This would be the first major renovation in 15 to 20 years, he said.
But while the 1940-built cabin is “astoundingly large,” Zwolfer said by phone, the staff can only use about half of it. The renovation would open the entire basement and attic and would effectively double the amount of space the organization could use.
The Cabin has had plans to expand for several years, but the COVID-19 pandemic put everything on hold, Zwolfer said.
“A lot of (nonprofits) had ambitions to change, to make renovations, to grow, but we really couldn’t until we saw our way out of that crisis,” he said.
Plans call for a new pen-and-paint studio, a writer’s den, a meeting room, a reading loft and more office space for staff. Plans also call for renovating two existing basement classrooms and adding a third.
.jpg "The Cabin Reader’s Loft (Before).jpg")
.jpg "The Cabin Reader’s Loft (After).jpg")
First used by the U.S. Forest Service, every room on the first floor uses a different kind of lumber, Zwolfer said. These include rooms of yellow pine, white pine, red fir and red cedar. The renovations, he said, would protect and restore some of that original woodwork.
“That beautiful floor… is a Boise treasure,” he said.
A new outdoor gathering space
Plans also call for a new outdoor amphitheater that would allow The Cabin to better host some of its programs and events, Zwolfer said.
The development includes renovating the lawn and parking lot into a circulatory space and sunken amphitheater, according to Garden City’s Breckon LandDesign Inc., an engineering, planning and design firm.
Zwolfer said the amphitheater would add to other venues The Cabin uses, the Gene Harris Band Shell in Julia Davis Park and the Egyptian Theater. The library, the Wassmuth Center or others could use the amphitheater for community events or fundraisers, he said. It could even act as a new venue for Treefort.
The space would be built in the Cabin’s small parking lot and named Henry’s Storytelling Grove, after past board member Henry Reents, who died in January 2023. Reents was a prominent member of the community and husband of former state Sen. Sue Reents.
The renovations and amphitheater are entirely self-funded, Zwolfer said. The organization is about $50,000 away from its goal of raising $2 million for the development — just enough, he said, to move to temporary offices and start construction.
Zwolfer said he hoped that construction on the interior would wrap up this summer, and the outdoor aspects by the end of the year. The timeline depends on a long list of nearby developments as well.
.jpg "The Cabin Writer’s Den (Before).jpg")
.jpg "The Cabin Writer’s Den (After).jpg")
A redesigned, improved piece of downtown Boise
Zwolfer said they didn’t intend for The Cabin’s changes and multiple nearby upgrades all to come at the same time.
- The Wassmuth Center for Human Rights’ new Philip E. Batt Education Building opened next to the Anne Frank Memorial in October.
- Construction has closed all but one lane on Capitol Boulevard for roadway improvements funded by the city’s urban renewal agency. Plans call for improved sidewalks, bike lanes and planter boxes, Zwolfer said.
- The city and its urban renewal agency are also renovating and redesigning parts of the intersection of the Greenbelt, Anne Frank Memorial and 8th Street, which runs behind the library. Plans call for security cameras, more lighting and a “distinctive” public space between the Wassmuth Center and the library.
“It’ll really make the library campus… more inviting for citizens of Boise and visitors of Boise too,” he said. “Something beautiful and community-oriented is being created in that area.”
This story was originally published January 26, 2025 at 4:00 AM.
