Rebuilding the Loj Through Community Determination
Although the permitting process took longer than anticipated, Northeastern students and alumni finally began construction of the new lodge last summer. Courtesy photo
Evan Forcucci, a fifth-year electrical engineering student, and other Northeastern students and alumni share their progress of rebuilding the Loj-the New Hampshire cabin used in the Hus-Skiers and Outing club-after it burned down in 2015.
This article originally appeared on Northeastern Global News. It was published by Alena Kuzub.
Northeastern student outdoors club is rebuilding its home in the White Mountains
Evan Forcucci learned about the Hus-Skiers and Outing Club at Northeastern University even before he started his undergraduate studies. A neighbor — and fellow Husky — in his hometown of Winchester, Massachusetts, had been a member in the 1980s and encouraged him to join the student group right away.
Forcucci arrived at Northeastern in 2021 and interest in the club was high. Like other first-year students, he was eager to sign up for ski trips. It wasn’t until the spring semester of his second year, when he was on co-op and had free weekends, that he thought, “What if I actually went on one of these weekend trips?”
Forcucci, now a fifth-year electrical engineering student, not only built skills in climbing, skiing and outdoor survival through the club, but also took on leadership roles and learned carpentry and construction. Most of all, he said, he found a community.
“It was really the access to having this community of people supporting the endeavor to make these trips happen that made it feel so easy to go outdoors and do all this cool stuff,” he said.
Founded in 1941, Northeastern University Hus-Skiers and Outing Club is one of the oldest student organizations on campus. It has introduced thousands of students to outdoor recreation through dozens of trips each year.
For nearly 45 years, the club has operated from a piece of leased land known as the “Loj,” located in the northern White Mountains near Shelburne, New Hampshire. The property serves as a base for hiking, skiing, rock climbing, canoeing, kayaking and mountain biking. In 1971, students built the Brown Memorial Lodge on the site, named after Gordon H. Brown, one of the club’s founders, along with an original water pump, outhouse and swimming hole.
In 2015, the club lost the lodge to a fire. Students and graduates rallied to rebuild the permanent winter shelter, forming the NUHOC Build Committee. Although the permitting process took longer than anticipated, construction led by club members finally began last summer.
“It’s going to be about a 60-foot-by-24-foot structure with a kitchen, living room space with a wood stove and a dining table, and bunk rooms and lofts to sleep about 48 people,” Forcucci said.
Forcucci and Filip Musial, a recent Northeastern graduate who joined NUHOC as a freshman, have been among the leaders spearheading efforts to rebuild the lodge.
The Loj is close to several ski areas, including Sunday River Resort and Black Mountain in Maine and Wildcat and Loon Mountains in New Hampshire. In the winter, students currently sleep in an insulated “relatively cozy” canvas tent, Forcucci said.
“But it would be nice to have a real building, of course, to sleep more than 16 people or so in the winter. That’s not enough to meet demand,” he said.
 The new lodge will have a kitchen, a living room space with a wood stove and a dining table, and bunk rooms and lofts on both sides of the building to sleep about 48 people. Courtesy Rendering |
 Most of the construction work has been done by Northeastern graduates and students.The Loj is close to several ski areas, including Sunday River Resort and Black Mountain in Maine and Wildcat and Loon Mountains in New Hampshire. Courtesy photos |
Read full story at Northeastern Global News