Major Campus Upgrades Promise 'Best Summer Ever'

By Tim Downey

The renovated dining hall kitchen awaits appliances and finishing touches. (Tim Downey)

Back in May, with second session still in limbo, a small group of staff men came up to get the island in shape and knock out some major campus improvement projects. 

Under the direction of Blake Johnson, they built a beautiful new bouldering wall on the edge of the big ballfield. The guys especially enjoyed digging the post holes by hand, drilling holes in the plywood every foot, and pounding in a couple thousand T-nuts.

The nearby archery shack was moved to the northwest corner of the ballfield to make space for a new ropes course, which includes eight 30-foot-high elements that were installed this fall. The site of the old ropes course—located in the woods behind the ballfield—was cleared out and will be used for the archery range.

In the Junior Camp, a site was cleared for a new cabin, one of four that will be built by Seniors over the next four years. Each will have 12 bunks, a covered porch, skylight and traditional board-and-batten siding for maximum durability.

Perhaps most exciting of all, the dining hall kitchen has been completely transformed. Before departing in June, the preseason crew removed all of the old appliances and ripped up the old floor. Since then, a new floor has been installed, bay lights hung, a 20-foot-long hood hoisted into position, and new appliances set in place, including a high-temperature dishwasher. Once the rest of the appliances arrive in May, the kitchen will be ready for the kitchen crew, the delicious meals they will make, and hundreds of hungry campers.

The new ropes course. (Tim Downey)

In addition to these major projects, the shutters on several cabins were repaired or replaced, railings were installed on several Intermediate cabins, the dining hall received a fresh coat of par, and a new water line for the west side of campus was installed. Altogether, these projects are sure to make 2021 the best summer ever.

A huge thanks to Wyatt Amdahl, Paul Beach, Trace Dunning, Jim Hunt, Blake Johnson, Luke Johnson, Michael Martinez, Roger Miller, Robert Shuman, Kyle Siebert and Dima Warner.

This article was originally published in the Fall 2020 Tumpline.