Friday, April 11, 2008

Change is a good thing!

Often Kanata old-timers (alumni) arrive to drop off their children or grandchildren and they almost always say something like this: “It still looks the same!” If you’ve been out to camp lately, though, you’ve seen that things are changing here at Camp Kanata and we believe that change is a good thing!
Camp has looked very much the same since 1954 but over the last couple of years we have started to make some changes to our facilities and things definitely do not look the same anymore. We added a new cabin in 2005, the swimming pool was completed in 2007 and new for 2008, a parking area, event field and an Alpine Tower II.
After the pool was built last summer we lost a great deal of field space. Because of this need, we have cleared an area in front of the Hilton for a new event field which will give us more space for sports, evening
programs and much more. A parking lot might not seem like a big deal, but the last thing we want the campers to look at during their week at camp is a bunch of cars. We have cleared out a large area in the woods behind the dining hall that has space to park over 80 cars. This will keep cars out of plain view and make it feel more like camp. Finally, we are also adding an Alpine Tower II (www.alpinetowers.com). As the new cabins get
completed in the future we will lose our present high ropes course and climbing elements and this
necessitated our new climbing element. The Alpine Tower II will be a dynamic addition to our ropes course offerings and a challenge for new and old campers alike!
And the change doesn’t stop there! In the future we will be adding eight more new
duplex cabins with bathrooms (no more bathhouse!), soccer and event fields at the front of camp, an administrative office and a new maintenance shop. But all these changes don’t happen because of camper fees during the summer. They take place because of generous donors in our community who invest time and money into our wonderful camp. If you are interested in all the fun and exciting new things happening here at Kanata we would love the chance to talk with you about the changes and how you can be involved. See you this summer!