Camps 'N Codes

Take a moment, close your eyes, and paint a picture in your mind of your childhood summer camp. Can you see it? Little rustic cabins, a fire ring in the forest, a wooden dock with canoes tethered to it, and an overall sense of magic adrift in the air. Now let me ask, did you remember to include the fire suppression systems, accessibility features, and the correct number of plumbing fixtures? I didn’t think so. While these elements don’t contribute to the overall allure of camp, they are all crucial to the construction of camp structures. This post kick starts our ‘Camps ‘N Codes’ series about Building Codes and Regulations and how they affect summer camps.  After the break is an introduction to the series. Be sure to check back over the next few months as we debut our ‘Case Study’ posts where we dive into our previous projects and discuss how we have handled camp specific code issues in the past.

 

More.

When camp is more than fun, friendship and adventure…

A few recent interactions with clients has reminded me of a simple fact: camp is so much more than it is sometimes advertised to be.

Recently I attended the YMCA Camp Marketing and Financial Development Symposium. Greg and I were asked to present the Facilities Needs implications of the results of our YMCA Resident Camps Capital Improvement Study as keynote speakers.

The study, which was completed over several months earlier this year, surveyed roughly 25% of all YMCA resident camps. The survey questions addressed each camp’s current and future capital needs, as well as their current and future camp expansions and improvement projects. Additionally, the fundraising capacity of camps was examined by Lighthouse Counsel, a third-party consultant. Other parts of the study looked at individual camps’ best practices in terms of management and sustainability, as well as determining if market gaps exist nationally for the Y. In addition to conducting the web-based survey, Domokur Architects made eight site visits to select YMCA resident camps throughout the country to get a firsthand look at the camps’ conditions.

While we were at the Symposium, we attended a particularly powerful session lead by Jorge Perez, the VP of Youth Development, Family Enrichment and Social Responsibility at YMCA of the USA. Jorge’s opening analogy especially stuck with me. Let me see if I can recreate it for you...

Imagine that you are back in kindergarten. You are learning about how things grow, and as a project, your class is planting seeds in little seed-starting cups. You add soil, place it on the classroom’s window sill, water it daily, and eventually you have a small sprouting seedling. So, as a kindergartner, what did you learn? You learned that in order to grow, you need three things: the cup, water, and sunlight.

Now let’s apply this analogy to camp. The cup is your camp, and the water and the sunlight are your camp’s investments into youth development. Jorge commented that often camps are only focused on “the cup”: “look at my cup,” "we just built a new cup,” “this cup will be the best.” While it is easy to get lost in this line of reasoning, we all know that camp is about so much more than just “the cup." The cup will not make the seed grow without a strong investment in youth development.

This is something we continue to express through our camp design. Because, while “the cup” is important, it is really about what the cup creates… a second home, a place to learn and grow, the overall experience of summer camp – that is most important.

My next encounter was during a planning discussion with a client. The director expressed her concern that the camp was only being represented as a place for fun. While fun is definitely a main ingredient, camp is so much more. The majority of Camp Directors would agree that the fun is intentional. Activity progressions, programming, and camper-to-counselor ratios are all structured. It has be said many times: the camp environment offers something that can’t be matched. And that is no accident! Successful programs are intentionally invested in youth development, not just fun! As reported in ACA camping magazine…

“Camp directors often design the summer camp experience with intended camper outcomes in mind. Campers often experience positive changes as a result of attending summer camp.”¹

Just as successful camp programming requires intentional directives on the part of the camp staff, successful camp planning and architecture must also focus on the investment in youth development with each design.

¹Henderson, Karla A., Ph.D, Paul E. Marsh, M.S., Deborah Bialeschki, Ph.D, Margery M. Scanlin, Ed.D, Leslie S. Whitaker, Christopher Thurber, Ph.D, and Mark Burkhardt. "Research: Intentional Youth Development." Research: Intentional Youth Development. American Camp Association, Sept.-Oct. 2006. Web. 08 Jan. 2015.

Back to Nature...

“Not that long ago, summer camp was a place where you camped, hiked in the woods, learned about plants and animals, or told firelight stories about ghosts or mountain lions. As likely as not today, "summer camp" is a weight-loss camp, or a computer camp. For a new generation, nature is more abstraction than reality. Increasingly, nature is something to watch, to consume, to wear—to ignore. A recent television ad depicts a four-wheel-drive SUV racing along a breathtakingly beautiful mountain stream—while in the backseat two children watch a movie on a flip-down video screen, oblivious to the landscape and water beyond the windows.
A century ago, the historian Frederick Jackson Turner announced that the American frontier had ended. His thesis has been discussed and debated ever since. Today, a similar and more important line is being crossed.”

- Excerpt from Richard Louv’s book, Last Child in the Woods.

Summer camps in America trace their origin to many different social forces interacting together. The end of the nineteenth century was dominated by a movement to preserve what wilderness was left, and to reacquaint one's self (and one's child) with nature. This was no doubt made to seem pertinent by the declaration, in 1893, that the American Frontier was closed. This marked the end of an era. In a few short centuries, we had explored the entirety of this expansive country -- a national journey that had been romanticized in countless dime novels and tall tales that drifted back across the trails to the folks back east. This romanticizing of wilderness and the West would grow like a wildfire following 1893, and this was perhaps most apparent in the number of summer camps that sprang up around the turn of the century.

Let's take a look at how some of these social forces created the landscapes of summer camps. At the turn of the nineteenth century, Sequoia National Park, Yosemite National Park, and the Grand Canyon National Monument were established. This same feeling sparked the influx of summer camps across the country, with the majority of camps in the East, (the most industrialized region), fewer in the Midwest, and very few in the West. Author Van Slyck reports in her book A Manufactured Wilderness, that many camps were built on “reclaimed” farm land “scrubbed clean” of its industrial use to return it to its original wilderness.

This “return to original wilderness” was concentrated in boys’ camps. Girls’ camps were not widely established until the 1900s, some 20 years after boys' camps started cropping up. With time these theories changed, and so did the camp landscape. Camp became less about turning boys into men, and catered more to the individual needs of campers through facility comforts (such as more permanent facilities), skill development, and attention to the overall well-being of the child. Summer camps began to develop a more complex landscape of the tools needed to create a successful summer camp. According to Van Slyck, before 1930, few camps - private or organization-based - were touched by professional design experience.

Now fast-forward 100 years to today. Once again, there is a push for the preservation of nature and a focus on its social benefits on our society, especially in our children. Richard Louv’s book warns of the negative effects of raising children without access to nature. Louv is pointing out many similarities between the closing of the frontier and, to use his words, the “last child in the woods.”

In today’s world, the camp design is critical to the functionality and success of the camp. While there are several newer specialty camps as Louv references, majority of traditional camps in existence today were built before 1960. Many of today’s camps are the very camps Van Slyck mentions as being built 100 years ago on reclaimed farmland.

Can a 100 year-old institution be the solution to today’s societal issues with our children? With the right tools, we think yes! A master plan is a logical roadmap for implementation of operational, program and physical development goals, and is a useful tool for ensuring that your camp creates an environment that helps your campers connect with the splendors of nature. Additionally, a Master Plan's planning documents are an ideal resource for generating funding and attracting publicity, as the process forces you to define exactly what your camp is all about in the present, and where you want your camp to grow in the future. And the community involvement that having a demonstrated plan for your camp generates encourages a strong sense of ownership. Overall, investment in a master plan highlights issues – both current and anticipated – and presents tangible, achievable solutions to make the most of your camp’s future.

In today’s world, master planning is common among camps. From one perspective, this might seem far from the original intent of the “wilderness of camp.” However, upon closer inspection, it does not seem that far from the original camps that “reclaimed” land to create a new “wilderness.” Van Slyck called it a “Manufactured Wilderness.” Manufactured, yes. Effective? Also yes. 100 years ago, camps provided a solution to the closing of the frontier. Today, it is once again camps that can provide the solution to the problem of the 'last child in the woods'.


Ayres, Van Slyck Abigail. A Manufactured Wilderness: Summer Camps and the Shaping of American Youth, 1890-1960. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota, 2006. Print.

Louv, Richard. Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-deficit Disorder. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin of Chapel Hill, 2005. Print.

Hello Again

A Page From Greg’s Sketchbook…

A sketch of Camp Albemarele from the master planning process

Camp Albemarle is the third master planning partnership between Lloyd Griffith and Greg Copeland. They worked together at Camp Becket in the 1980s and Camp Sea Gull from 1994 to 2002. After Lloyd and his wife Cille retired from their roles as directors of Sea Gull and Seafarer, Lloyd transitioned to the ministry at the First Presbyterian Church in New Bern, North Carolina. Having left one of the largest YMCA camps in the United States, they were able to successfully translate their experience to this small site along the bay. As this camp is in touch with the sea, Greg and Lloyd both see much potential and many possibilities in Camp Albemarle.

Established in 1953, Camp Albemarle is a year-round mission-driven center dedicated to serving children, youth, families, and adults of all faiths and denominations. Their mission is to provide safe, fun and meaningful activities that allow campers, families and adult guests to build relationships with peers, staff, and God. With 61 years of service, Camp Albemarle has reached 40,000 campers. With 700 connections to Christ each summer, Camp Albemarle is connecting in a big way. They are blessed with a wonderful site on the sea, which serves as the basis for their distinctive ministry.

Camp Albemarle is located on 29 acres on Bogue Sound, in Newport, North Carolina and is bordered by Highway 24 to the North. Two vacant parcels border the east (8.6 acres) and west (7.2 acres ) sides of the property, both consisting of heavily wooded areas with dense understory plants. The southern boundary includes over 1,125 linear feet of shoreline and the views across the sound extend 2.5 miles to Indian Beach and Emerald Isle.

Camp Albemarle includes 21 buildings used for operations, staff housing, camper housing, and programming. The pier, which should have been the original focal point of the camp, was severely damaged by hurricanes and needed to be totally rebuilt. The Master Plan proposes replacing several buildings in order to meet the development objectives. It is understood that although changes of this magnitude would be difficult, it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to build facilities that will match the natural glory of the site and fulfill the mission of Camp Albemarle.

The key to the success of the Master Plan is the development and celebration of the waterfront. The most unique aspect of this site is the water. Salt-water based camps are rare throughout the country, making Camp Albemarle a very attractive site on a national level. It is essential that the waterfront program reflects this significance. This translates into the designing for a state-of-the-art pier, a diverse boating program, opportunities for fishing, aquatic studies, and travel across the sound to the many public resources on the islands. The plan maintains the natural beauty and spiritual significance of the Vesper Dell, the camp's outdoor chapel. 

The Master Plan is arranged so that the camper housing is in a continuously linear form, giving each cabin a prime view of the waterfront. Four other areas, also centered on the waterfront, have been further developed within the Master Plan, including a day camp area, land-based activities area, the waterfront area, and facility-based activities.

Camp Albemarle pier

The new pier was completed in 2009. The first element of the Adventure Course and Alpine Tower was added in 2012. The camp also has an extensive and technical tree-climbing program with 3,000 tree climbs per summer. Albemarle is currently working on developing the Day Camp Area.

Tips from Greg’s Sketchbook:

1. Put your best foot forward. In this case, that means using the water as a central focus for the camp’s Master Plan. 

2. It’s about relationships. When Greg first worked with Lloyd of on the Master Plan for Camp Becket, he had no idea that they would collaborate twice more.

3. Develop Potential. Lloyd and Greg could see the potential of “a camp in touch with the sea."

Conservation What?... Conservation Easements and Summer Camps.

According to the American Camp Association, 1 in 5 camps have conservation easements in place. What is a conservation easement, you ask? A conservation easement is a way for camps to protect their property from unwanted future development. For many camps, their property was purchased nearly 100 years ago for a fraction of the value of the land today. This can pose a big problem for camps, as current land values can mean large property and estate taxes. Consequently, camp owners face unique challenges arising from the ownership of significant parcels of land.

One solution to this dilemma is a conservation easement. With a conservation easement, the property owner sells the development rights to a land conservancy. Crafted to suit the particular camp’s situation, this creates opportunities for camp owners. Here are several benefits of selling development rights.

Income Tax Savings: A for-profit camp can enjoy significant federal and state income tax savings from donating a conservation easement on portions of the camp property.

Transition and Estate Planning: Camp owners planning for the transition of the camp to their family’s next generation or planning for their estates can reduce the taxes involved in such transitions by incorporating a conservation easement.

Acquisition: conservation easements can be creatively implemented to facilitate the purchase of a camp property.

Disposition: If the sale of a camp for another use is required, planning for a conservation easement, along with a creative development concept can be an effective marketing tool which can help cultivate alumnae as potential buyers for personal or collective use.

Raise Capital: In some instances, federal, state or local money may be available to purchase conservation easements from camp owners.

Camp Protection: A conservation easement will stand to protect the environment in case camp property is ever sold.

Green River Preserve, near our offices in Brevard, NC, has over 2,600 acres in conservation easement standing. For Green River Preserve, their conservation easement greatly reduced their property and estate taxes, and they received cash from the State of North Carolina through its Clean Water Management Trust Fund and other funding sources due of the camp’s ecological value. And, best of all -- campers can continue to be campers, as if nothing has changed, according to Sandy Schenck, the founder of Green River Preserve.

What can a Conservation Easement do for your camp? Learn more from? The Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy here! (there are also similar conservancy groups in each state). Camps should consult with their legal and accounting teams before pursuing any conservation easements.

Welcome to Camp...(nice maintenance shed)

It’s opening day and the camp looks beautiful! Every detail, from the check-in table to the new canoes lined up in the lake, is perfect. Parents are driving into camp, awed by the serenity of this other world. But what about that building? Ugh! It’s the maintenance shed.

After visiting hundreds of camps, one thing that stands out to us is the placement of the maintenance shed, a common problem. Perhaps, as people who design camps, we are more sensitive to this, but we still can't help but wonder why would maintenance sheds have the privilege of being the first building visitors see. Programmatically, the maintenance shed is “back of the house,” but in more cases than not, it is near the entrance to camp. We think this is just a small part of a bigger issue centering around the design of the entrance to camp.

As a majority of camps across the country were established nearly 100 years ago, perhaps the entrance is just as it has always been: the dirt road off the main road that transports you into the camp world. Some entrances are long, others quite short. Let’s take a look at what creates a successful entrance.

1. The entrance must be defined. A large welcome sign or sign with the camp logo, and landscaping are all aspects of a well-defined entrance. 

The entrance to Grizzly Creek Ranch. 

2. The entrance must “set the mood” for camp. Find ways to incorporate the “camp feel” right off the bat. 

Camp Pinnacle counselors setting the mood for an amazing summer
on opening day. 

3. The entrance road is a chance to showcase what makes your camp unique. This is your first impression on parents and campers. Be sure it’s a great one! 

The entrance to Camp Sea Gull was strategically designed to wind through
the camp's Golf Course, showcasing a beautiful feature of camp. 

"We Need To Talk"

The Start of a Great Relationship…

A Page from Greg's Sketchbook

Domokur Architects has over 40 years of camp experience, with creative lead Greg Copeland leading the charge.  With years of experience and great relationships with camps across the country, we could all learn a thing or two from Greg!  I had the privilege of hearing about one particular encounter between Greg and Len McCandliss, former CEO of Sierra Health Foundation, that happened in March of 1999. The story goes something like this...

They were both attending the ACA West Conference and Len actually approached Greg -- he said, “We need to talk.”  His plan was to create a special needs camp on the land he had purchased near Nevada City, California, and he requested Greg’s evaluation of the site.  After carefully examining the area, Greg was extremely concerned about Len wanting to building on a wetland, as well as the fact that there was limited development space.

In February of 2000, Len contacted Greg once more and told him about another piece of land that he had purchased near Portola, California.  Len wanted another evaluation.  Despite the unfortunate condition of the last site, Greg thought that this site was promising.  He felt the 466 acres of land was beautiful and perfectly suited for a camp.  Greg only had one wistful comment: “I wish you could buy the adjoining land next to the area that we had identified as the best location for the camp.”  When Len asked why, Greg suggested that he would mirror the plan so that the dining hall overlooked the meadow.  Len’s reply was, “Well, you better get started!”  That moment marked the beginning of a new friendship.  With the master plan complete in 2001, and design work complete in 2002 by a local architecture firm, Grizzly Creek Ranch was able to officially open in 2003.

Since opening, Grizzly Creek Ranch has had the privilege of working with nonprofit organizations serving diverse populations, such as students, teachers, people with special needs, and children considered at risk for a variety of social and economic reasons.  In 2010, the Sierra Health Foundation partnered with Sierra Nevada Journeys to create year round outdoor education opportunities. This camp focuses on providing a unique camp experience while encouragement, support, and growth are highlighted.  It is a place where kids with special needs can just be kids -- a place where they can create their own everlasting memories.

Grizzly Creek Ranch Master Plan

Tips From Greg's Sketchbook:

1. It's about building relationships.  Master planning takes time.

2. Have the courage to reevaluate.  In 1999 Len had already purchased the land in Nevada City. Little did he know the success he would experience in 2003, nearly two hours away in Portola.

3. Be flexible in design. The original plan did not consider the adjacent land. Once the additional property was acquired, the plan was mirrored, resulting in a beautifully situated dining hall overlooking the meadow.