Uptown’s cherished wooden stump sculpture called the “Raccoon Lodge” could be loaned to the city of Port Townsend as a public art piece.

The artwork’s creator Kevin Mason recently met with the city’s Public Art Committee about the sculpture and to advocate for the piece to be loaned to the city for two years.

The Public Art Committee unanimously approved the proposal to loan the lodge to the city for two years, with the recommendation headed to the Port Townsend Arts Commission, then to Port Townsend City Council. The Port Townsend Arts Commission and Public Art Committee are two separate advisory bodies of the city.

The sculpture gained public notoriety late last year after city officials said it was a safety hazard because of its location next to a city sidewalk and asked for its removal.

The order for the Raccoon Lodge’s removal by the end of November prompted a massive public outcry by residents and others, which culminated in a demonstration at its Clay Street location and a citizen-led petition signed by more than 2,800 people.

Fast forward to now, and the city is one step closer to taking on the sculpture for an initial two-year timeframe.

The structure was reviewed by Sequim-based firm Quandra Engineering in December, and engineer Harold Anderson wrote in his review: “I believe the Monterey Cypress and the structure attached is structurally sound and safe.”

“The remaining above ground wood is hard, solid, and mostly free from rot,” Anderson added in his Dec. 12 report. “I truly hope that the Raccoon Lodge will be accepted so that Port Townsend can maintain its reputation for cool.”

The sculpture is approximately 20 feet tall with a 9-foot diameter, and adorned with numerous features to resemble a miniature building.

The intricate, wooden creation was built onto the leftovers of a 150-year-old Monterey Cypress tree, which was at one point the largest tree of its kind in Washington state.

After a major storm in 2019 caused the tree’s south-side branches to collapse, all but the tree’s massive stump was cut down due to safety concerns. “Beautifying” the bare stump became Mason’s pandemic project as he fashioned intricate facade features to the stump.

“In the engineer’s note, he mentioned that … the stump had supported 50 to 70 tons of branches, and what I put on there is maybe 400 pounds maximum,” Mason said during the Public Art Committee’s last meeting in April.

Mason submitted a permit application for the Raccoon Lodge on April 13.

If the agreement is accepted by the city as it’s currently written, at the end of the loan Mason would reapply to extend the agreement for another two-year period, according to a letter from Julian St. Marie, Mason’s attorney.

If the city were to choose to reject the loan renewal, Mason agreed to remove the Raccoon Lodge by a specified date.

In an April 13 letter to the city, Mason’s lawyer, St. Marie, said saving the sculpture fits with the city’s land-use code and general vibe.

“Preservation of the Raccoon Lodge is in perfect alignment with the overarching goals of the Port Townsend Comprehensive Plan,” St. Marie wrote. “This artwork is emblematic of Port Townsend’s ethos of creativity and craftsmanship.”

The next approval step for the Raccoon Lodge will be getting the OK from the Port Townsend Arts Commission.