Metro Roundup: 14-year-old Helena girl builds kiosk for Kitty Kat Haven

A 14-year-old girl from Helena built a wooden information kiosk at the Kitty Kat Haven and Rescue center in Hoover as her Eagle Scout project.

With the completion of the project, Carley Seabrooke is set to become the first female Eagle Scout from Shelby County, according to her father, Robert Seabrooke, who is her scoutmaster for Troop 219, which was the first of three female Scout troops in the county.

Carley said she chose to build an information kiosk for the Kitty Kat Haven and Rescue center because she really likes cats and just wanted to do something to help the facility at its new location on Old Columbiana Road.

Her first suggestion was to build an automatic cat feeder for the feral cats that live outside the facility, but the Kitty Kat Haven already had lined someone up to do that, Executive Director Rita Bowman said. Carley then suggested the information kiosk.

After getting approval, she led a team of Scouts to build a 6-foot-4-inch tall wooden kiosk by the driveway in front of the house.

The kiosk is 53 inches wide and 20 inches deep, has a shingled roof and Plexiglas on the front of it to protect whatever notices are posted on the kiosk from the elements.

Bowman said the information kiosk is a great way to provide information for people who come to the center when it is closed, such as the center hours and the process and cost for adopting kittens and cats. The center also plans to start posting pictures of the Cat of the Month each month, she said.

“It looks phenomenal. We love it,” Bowman said.

Carley came to the center with the idea in August and completed construction of the kiosk on Jan. 1. She and her fellow Scouts did all the work except using the power tools to cut the wood, her father said. Carley is scheduled to meet with the Eagle Scout Board of Review in March with a formal presentation about her project.