San Lorenzo Valley High School’s outdoor amphitheater, on the border between the school and the Fall Creek section of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, has been restored by the efforts of Girl Scout Paisley Frost.
The undertaking, which the high school senior began in 2008 for her Girl Scout Gold Award, transformed the remnants of the original wooden stage — defunct since a fire in the 1980s — into a concrete-and-brick performance space designed for the chilly climate under the redwood canopy.
“It was a project that was waiting for someone to breathe life into,” said Frost, a 12-year Girl Scout who hopes to study international relations after she graduates this spring.
In 2008, Frost envisioned a summer project that would include seating and places to hang lighting. Instead, she spent four years gaining approval from the Girl Scouts organization to go ahead with her plan, acquiring permission from both the school district and state park authorities, raising money, getting building permits and materials, and — perhaps most difficult — finding and coordinating willing labor.
“(The Girl Scouts) are trying to say that the people who get the projects done are real leaders,” Frost said. “I had to be part of every element of the project.”
Finally, though, construction began in 2010. Volunteers — including her parents, Gene and Leah Frost, as well as Troop 11058 compatriots Claire Barnes, Lindsey Simonson and Mariah Lindberg — helped Frost excavate the foundation, laying drain rock and sand in preparation for pouring the concrete.
Most of the materials were donated by local businesses, such as Scarborough Lumber and Las Animas Concrete.
The concrete used to create the stage was an experimental variety designed to handle the fluctuating temperatures and moisture common to the Fall Creek area.
Frost said she and her crew worked from 6 a.m. until after dark hauling the concrete from the truck, pouring a layer, leveling it, sprinkling in a layer of the fibers used for support and strength, and repeating the cycle.
“It was probably the hardest physical labor I have ever done,” Frost said. “But it will be there forever.”
Frost said that, many times, she had to fight for her vision of the project — from multiple pitches to get the Girl Scouts’ initial approval to encounters with pessimistic construction experts.
“I had some naysayers,” she said. “But being a Girl Scout is more than just wearing a vest.”
Her father agreed.
“From my perspective, it shows how tenacious she is,” he said.
Work on the stage was completed in 2010, but another year’s work was ahead as Frost collected donations to create a wheelchair-accessible ramp to the stage. The donors are now immortalized in stamped bricks embedded in the ramp.
Frost, who was honored for her work and presented with her Gold Award at a Dec. 31 ceremony, said the stage is already being used by classes and is being considered for a spring play.
She added that she hopes that her work will become the nucleus for expansion of the amphitheater, with lights and seating for larger performances.
“Now the school has got a nice resource,” she said.
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