Centennial Campaign IV

We conclude our look at the Centennial Capital Campaign this week. The crown jewel of the campaign is the new Leadership Center, a facility to replace the existing Stahlman Dining Hall.

The Leadership Center is a massive project. It will include a new kitchen, dining hall, conference room, and “space for expansion of meeting rooms.” The Center is considered a much needed addition because the current facility is no longer considered safe for the dangerous weather scenarios that move through the region. It is also hoped that on an aesthetic level this new building will prove Camp Stahlman with a rival to raig’s iconic dining hall.

That such a facility is needed is undeniable. Still, it will come at a cost. The current Stahlman Dining Hall will be completely razed in favor of the new building. No bones will be kept, no materials recycled. The Leadership Center will be built on the same site. Currently, no plans exist to salvage “the bones” of the Stahlman Dining Hall and use them for any other purpose. The demolition is scheduled for 2021, the centennial of the first Camp Boxwell at Linton.

Designs from the Hall Group – Architecture and Planning.

Centennial Campaign III

We continue our look this week at the Centennial Capital Campaign. The campaign has eight major goals. Three we have looked at in detail–the showerhouses, the Menefee Shotgun Range, and the renovations on Craig Dining Hall–and we’ve posted before on the 100th Anniversary Gateway. This will be placed in a grassy area on the left upon entering camp, right before the Grizzard Gateway.

That leaves four other goals. We’ll look at three now and save the last big one for next week.

First of the remaining are improvements and renovations at the rangers’ residences. Both the Assistant Ranger’s house (the ‘caretaker’s cabin’) and the Head Ranger’s residence will be upgraded will more modern amenities.

The other big changes are seen here with the artist renderings. A Skilled Trades Center will be built at Camp Parnell, our understanding is in the Parnell parking lot area. This new center would continue Parnell’s transformation from a resident camp into a more vocational skills camp. The plan is to offer welding, plumbing, electrical, and auto mechanics merit badge at the end new center.

Finally, the other new construction project on the board is a Family and Staff Lodge. We confess, we don’t know much about this, but given its placement on the mpa in the Council office, it appears this building is going to augment the Cooks’ Cabins just below Stahlman Dining hall. The goal is to have a facilty close to the primary dining hall for those who are perhaps not so outdoors-y centered. Also, as the staff gains more female members, housing is an increasing challenge over the summer and this building could help with that as well.

Designs from the Hall Group – Architecture and Planning.

Centennial Campaign II

We continue our look this week at the Centennial Capital Campaign. In fact, this week is a little bit of a round up. The campaign has eight major goals, but as we saw last week, some of these goals are already in progress… or have been completed. We’ll look at the completed ones this week.

The first completed project is something we looked at quite extensively earlier: the renovations on the Craig Dining Hall. These renovations were significant, including a new roof, renovated bathrooms, reenforced beams for the ceiling, and new tempered glass for the windows. It is an impressive renovation for an already iconic building. The renovations were completed in 2019.

The second completed project is the new shotgun range. The range has been experienced a slow evolution since the early 1990s, but for this campaign it finally found a major benefactor in the Menefee family. The major building was done in 2018, but a new gateway and dedication was recently completed. The Albert Leo Menefee III Shotgun range was just dedicated August 27, 2020.

Follow the links for earlier posts on these parts of the campaign. The image below is of the new gateway to the Menefee Shotgun Range. Next week we look at what is still to come.

Craig Dining Hall Renovations, May 12, 2019

Craig Dining Hall Renovations, May 19, 2019

Craig Dining Hall Renovations, May 26, 2019

The Shotgun range and other Renovations, June 24, 2018

Centennial Campaign

As we do from time to time, we thought we would explore a theme this month. Generally, the From the Archives series explores Boxwell’s past. This month we have a rare opportunity to explore Boxwell’s future. This month we’re going to look at the current Centennial Capital Development Campaign.

The campaign has several goals we will explore this month, but it is worth noting some work has already been accomplished. The most obvious of these are two new showerhouses on the Reservation. The Main Showerhouse at Craig and Showerhouse 2 at Stahlman have been been torn down and replaced by new buildings. The designs on these buildings follow the existing trends toward increased privacy. There are 10 stalls total in each building, but these are full bathrooms. Once a Scout enters there is a sink, a toilet and a shower all together. These are also all weather showerhouses that can be used year round.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the campaign has slowed dramatically, but some progress has been made on the capital goals. The two recently completed are only the first. The plan is to replace all six showerhouses at Craig and Stahlman.