March 11, 2017

Log cabin will be repurposed after Perryville tornado

The log structure built in 1886 which is mostly hidden at Kevin Schemel's tornado-damaged house will be repurposed. Schemel is gifting the logs to his next-door neighbor to be used in a new home.

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com Kevin Schemel pauses upstairs Friday, March 10, 2017 in his home that was struck by the Feb. 28 tornado near Perryville, Missouri.

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com A kitchen wall that held a "time capsule" is seen Friday, March 10, 2017 in the Kevin Schemel house that was damaged by the Feb. 28 tornado near Perryville, Missouri. Using a hammer, John Muench proceeded right to left until he discovered the ChapStick container he placed in the wall as a child in 1951, when the kitchen was re-done. It contained a photograph of his sister and him holding hands.

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com The front of the Kevin Schemel house is seen Friday, March 10, 2017 near Perryville, Missouri. A log cabin exists beneath the right half of the house.

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com The west side of the Kevin Schemel house is seen Friday, March 10, 2017 near Perryville, Missouri. Behind the wall is a log cabin.

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com Kevin Schemel shows the original log-cabin wall Friday, March 10, 2017 next to the basement steps of his home that was struck by a tornado Feb. 28 near Perryville, Missouri.

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com This plaque remains on the log wall to the basement of Kevin Schemel's house Friday, March 10, 2017. He gave other plaques that were on the wall to volunteers who helped clear debris after the Feb. 28 tornado near Perryville, Missouri.

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com Clark Thompson, left, and Roy A. Glass Jr. tear into a wall Friday, March 10, 2017 that reveals the original log structure of Kevin Schemel's house that was damaged in the Feb. 28 tornado near Perryville, Missouri.

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com The original log structure chinked with slack lime is revealed behind plasterboard and wood as demolition of Kevin Schemel's house begins Friday, March 10, 2017 near Perryville, Missouri.

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com A tornado-damaged upstairs bedroom in the Kevin Schemel house is seen Friday, March 10, 2017.

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com Kevin Schemel recovers a child's rocking horse from upstairs at his tornado-damaged home Friday, March 10, 2017 near Perryville, Missouri.

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com Kevin Schemel shows the cellar Friday, March 10, 2017 where his wife, Sandra Kay, rode out the tornado that struck their home Feb. 28 near Perryville, Missouri. "It's almost a vault," he said.

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com Kevin Schemel shows the wood-burning furnace in the basement of his house Friday, March 10, 2017. Schemel said he is gifting the furnace to a family before the tornado-damaged house is razed.

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The log structure built in 1886 which is mostly hidden at Kevin Schemel's tornado-damaged house will be repurposed. Schemel is gifting the logs to his next-door neighbor to be used in a new home.

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