Rendering of new lodge

A New Lodge at Crow

Be a Part of Crow's Biggest Rebuilding Project Yet!

"The God of heaven will give us success. We, his servants, will start rebuilding" - Nehemiah 2:20

At Crow we have begun to break ground on our biggest rebuilding project ever. In recent years, through God's grace, we have rebuilt the girl's and boy's dorms and the office. We are now ready to move ahead with a lodge incorporating a chapel and a dining room.

The Board is convinced that God is directing us to move ahead with this project. It will be a very large project that may take up to a year or more to complete. The project has become an absolute necessity. Our old dining room was never meant to last 50+ years. It was built to house a summer-only program with a limited number of campers. It has been added to a number of times and some of the structure is beyond its useable life. Recent work on the roof uncovered some major rot and we all have been observing with some concern the shifting cracks in the floor.

A site has been chosen on the north side of the circle between the boys and girls dorms. This will nicely round out the buildings area and continue the move of our structures farther away from the lake. The site has good southern exposure for maximum solar gain and will have an excellent mountain view. It is close enough to the mechanical building so that the boilers will be housed there. Provisions in the plan call for an access for trucks to the north side of the building from the west to keep the traffic away from camper activities.

It is our intention to demolish some of the old structures (Dining room, teepees) once the new lodge is completed. Over time we also intend to complete a new nurse, cooks and staff accommodation with washroom, laundry and RV hook-ups and demolish the old washroom block. Some other structures (Pit Cave, old boys cabins and speakers cabin) may be moved to accommodate these changes and eventually we hope to have the area nearer the lake landscaped as activity space. Others (The Chapel) will be given a new use.

It has never been our plan to increase the number of campers we can accommodate at any single camp session. We want to keep camps small enough to maintain high interaction between staff and campers. The new facility is approximately 111 ft by 71 ft (approx 8500 sq. ft) plus a covered deck on three sides. This makes the entire structure about 40% larger than our present chapel and dining room combined. However within our new space we will have more than double the area in the kitchen and three times the storage that we presently have. We will also have washrooms and a gathering area/foyer within the structure. The foyer will function as an overflow area from either the chapel or the dining room. Due to a better layout and more efficient design we will be able to seat about 200 each in the dining room and chapel (plus overflow if necessary).

It has been a long-standing policy of CNLBC that we do not actively solicit funds. Our constitution does note that we should inform the supporters of the needs of camp. This is the major reason for this document. We want you to know what the needs are and how you can participate as God directs you.

The Need  — We must build a new dining room and chapel space. This will cost approximately $750,000. The intention is to construct the building in phases:

  1. The outside shell - walls (ICF), trusses, roof, windows -up to the point where it is weather tight.
    Approximate cost $325,000
  2. Inside - floor, plumbing and mechanical, roughed in electrical, heating, and ventilation.
    Estimated cost $225,000
  3. Inside finishing - lighting, electrical, interior walls, painting, cabinetry, kitchen equipment etc. Estimated cost $100,000
  4. Outside finishing - Hardy board, stucco, rockwork, deck and posts, lights etc.
    Estimated cost $65,000 (we have already expended $50,000 for Plans, permits and utilities)

Your Participation - A building plan has been designed. A visual representation is on our website. Electrical, mechanical and structural engineering plans are in place. A general contractor has been chosen who is willing to use sub trades who will provide a combination of paid and volunteer work. Most of these individuals have had previous camp involvement and they all understand the desire of the Board to use as much volunteer labour as possible.

We are presently developing a gift registry with values for various items, which supporters could provide for the building or which they could contribute funds to purchase. It is also our intention to have a means of letting everyone know the progress and the needs on an on-going basis.

God has been faithful to camp over the 52+ years it has been in operation. We trust our operations budget will soon be current. We have approximately $320,000 in the Building Fund. We will only proceed to each new phase when we either have the funds in hand or commitments for the funds.





Will you be involved as a channel of God's goodness by praying, contributing your skills, materials & equipment or funds to meet this need as we move ahead with this next big phase of rebuilding this significant place?

I told them how God was supporting me and how the king was backing me up. They said, "We're with you. Let's get started." They rolled up their sleeves, ready for the good work. - Nehemiah 2:18