By: Deborah Johnson Wood
Last week Camp O’Malley on the Thornapple River in Alto re-opened its doors to kids after a $2 million renovation. Since 1939, the Grand Rapids Youth Commonwealth operated the 40-acre camp which closed its doors for the first time last year because it couldn’t meet health and safety codes.
“The condition of the main lodge pretty much was the reason why the camp couldn't be opened any more,” says Ryan Wheeler of Rockford Construction, the company who oversaw the renovations.
Now the 3,800-square-foot lodge has a new commercial kitchen, new floors, windows, and HVAC, a renovated three-season porch, and a large addition for breakout sessions and activities. Tongue-and-groove pine trimmed in cedar line the walls.
Other improvements include demolishing the camp director’s old residence and building a new one, constructing a new gymnasium/activity center, and renovating 15 other buildings, including camper cabins, staff cabins, and the pool house. All received new roofs, doors, flooring, electrical and plumbing, and the structures were winterized for the first time since they were built.
Another major overhaul involved the soccer and football fields, which were re-graded, re-seeded, and brought up to high school standards.
“So many kids don't have a chance to see a deer in the wild, or swim in a river or canoe,” Wheeler says. “The biggest thing to me was seeing everybody come together and help out with this. Almost every one of our contractors donated services or materials, or they gave us a break on pricing or just did it for free.”
Source: Ryan Wheeler, Rockford Construction
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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