What is a log cabin without logs?

New photos have emerged of the current reproduction of Florida’s first Capitol building being built in Tallahassee’s Cascades Park, showing a structure with a wooden frame – but no tree trunks.

“We’ve gotten a lot of questions about this on social media,” said Jessie Werner, a spokeswoman for Friends of the First Florida Capitol, Inc., the local nonprofit behind the project.

The First Florida Capitol project, spearheaded by the Bicentennial Steering Committee along with Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey, was first announced earlier this year, and construction began this summer as a community volunteer effort.

The new cabin is scheduled to be completed by Labor Day weekend. Two community building days will be held soon. The grand opening is planned for Saturday, September 7.

Werner said the logs were still to come and that their placement was the final step.

“We’re trying to make it as close as possible to what was created in 1824, (but) we had to meet the standards (of the Americans with Disabilities Act) and build it to code,” said Bob Knight, the project manager.

The facade will be made of split logs, he added. “I specially ordered them from a company in Michigan, and as we speak, they are on their way.”

The logs are made of white pine, and even the underlying structure is made of pine, which Knight says came from a Floridian who has ties to the original log cabin.

Mark Carpenter, who called Dailey in January, donated more than $50,000 worth of lumber from Levy County. He said he is a seventh-generation descendant of one of the original builders of the first Capitol, Sharrod McCall.

“He methodically selected certain trees and … sawed them down, just like his seventh-generation great-grandfather did,” Knight said. Carpenter “even came out and helped with the construction, so he was literally following in the footsteps” of his ancestor.

How you can participate

• Anyone interested in volunteering can apply online: signupgenius.com/go/10C0E4DAAAF2EA2FDC61-50269394-community#/.

• The last two Community Build days are Tuesday, August 20th and Wednesday, August 21st.

• All volunteers must be at least 16 years old. They must complete a waiver to work on the site, which must be signed by a parent or guardian.

• Before arriving, volunteers were asked to watch an 18-minute safety video.

• Last but not least, it is mandatory for all participants to wear closed shoes. It is also recommended to wear clothes that volunteers do not mind getting dirty.

Arianna Otero is City Solutions Reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat. Reach her via email at [email protected] or via Twitter/X: @ari_v_otero.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Protocols for first Florida Capitol replica are on the way, organizers say