MOHAVE COUNTY - From the outside, each cabin at the Hualapai Mountain Park has little to distinguish itself from years past, but on the inside, a transformation has begun breathing new life into each dwelling.
The park has been working with the Project Service Achievement Work program for the past three months to remodel all 16 cabins at the park.
Project SAW, a vocational training program through the Mohave County Probation Department for males between the ages of 16 and 18, has just seven remaining cabins to finish.
Project SAW Coordinator Richard Bethel of Kingman and Hualapai Mountain Park Maintenance Supervisor Norm Horn of Kingman were put in touch by a mutual contact to work on remodeling the cabins. "It's really worked out good for both of us," Bethel said. "Norm's really tapped into using the probation department to his advantage."
According to Horn, it takes the boys four weeks to remodel a cabin. The boys strip everything in the cabin, including removing graffiti, before remodeling the cabins. They repaint the inside, do masonry work, put down ceramic tile and even build cabin bunks with material provided by the park.
The Hualapai Mountain Park has 16 total cabins housing two to 10 people and costing $60 to $95 per night on weekdays and $75 to $110 per night on weekend and holidays.
It also features three recreation areas and more than 100 campsites.
Horn added that the park staff has kept close tabs on the remodeled cabins, making sure all the boys' work isn't thwarted by vandalism.
The year-round program was created six years ago and has worked with Housing America, the Mohave Museum and the Chloride Museum in the past. Typically, five to six boys are involved with the program for six months before another group is brought in. The program was the dream of former Mohave County Assistant Chief Probation Officer Al Rosen, according to Bethel. "It's a good learning tool for the boys," Bethel said.
He added the program teaches participants skills in construction. "We don't have them picking up trash or pulling out weeds."
The program works with the Mohave County Community Development Department to provide counseling, general equivalency diploma classes and a $25 per-day stipend for training and paying any court-ordered restitution. Participants work four 10-hour days a week on a large project during the six months and smaller projects to fill any extra time.
Devin Kindig, 17, of Kingman just began the program. "It'll help me learn to do things, so maybe I'll get a better job in the future," Kindig said.
Bethel said some of the program's past participants have got in contact with him and cited the program for helping them find success after their release.
