Water Treatment, the Gas Well,
and assorted other pipes and hardware

I have always loved the "rabbit ears" that turn on the water in the tent units! Some, like this lonely faucet near the gas cut, mark camp sites long since "retired". Note the beautiful turqoise patina on the old copper. It's caused by the same chemical reaction that colors the Statue of Liberty.

Down by the south entrance parking lot is a collection of mysterious machinery.  It is typically ignored by arriving campers who are eager to get into their campsites and on with their programs.  They are our own waterwater treatment plant and the old gas well.  They are probably NOT the first things most girls want to know about.  Yet, with the right introduction and basic explanation, these functional items can also be learning tools.

I remember the Junior level "water wonders" badge required girls to visit a water treatment plant.  The Water Drop program also suggests such a visit ( activity #8 ).  What if, when we rebuild/repair ours, we make it amenable to such visits (appropriately supervised and guided, of course)?  How about a couple of educational placards outside the plant about the need for societies to think about the fact that their waste (bodily or otherwise) has to go somewhere?  Teaching girls the pros and cons of fossil fuels could have no finer introduction than the evidence of our own tapped-out source.

The current water treatment plant was built in 1966. It was the first major project completed with money from the Camp Development Fund campaign ( the other projects included Beaumont Pool and Gund Hall ). The gas well was already on site and functioning when the camp was bought in 1937.  It was furnishing gas to Crowell Hilaka at least through 1984 ( see excerpts from the Millwheel article below)

The Millwheel  of September 1984 has an article titled “A Series of 75-cent tours …. Or- an update on camps with Peg Hanslick” by Joan Barnam. This chatty, investigative- reporter style article interviewed Peg Hanskick, the properties manager at the time.

Major rennovations of Kirby, Amity, North, & Coach:  All completely re-wired and “brought up to code” . Up until this time, there had been only spot repairs.  “Repairing and replacing wires that were in the walls and places not uncovered since the places were constructed in the 1920’s”.

All plumbing upgraded. Iron pipes replaced.  "Chronically ill” toilets replaced, leaky bathtubs gone or on their way out.  Showers re-vamped.

Heating systems reviewed.  New ducts installed where needed (especially under registers where boots and mop water had rusted them).

All windows reviewed and replaced.

New mop sinks on every floor. 

Basements re-painted and re-conditioned.

Space utilization studies resulted in enlarged or moved kitchens

Amity House:

Kitchen expanded by removing a wall and taking out a closet, new mop sink added.
Upstairs bathtub(s) removed two toilet stalls and a mop sink
“Modesty screens reqired by health department” |
Several new windows
Rec room flourenscent lights installed.
New furnace
New hot water tank

Kirby House:

Kitchen enlarged with removal of a wall and stainless steel sink with cabinet added. “Gone was that white thing on one leg”
“Doors that had opened on to a balcony that had been gone for many years were replaced with windows and walls and new siding”.

Coach House:
Kitchen moved to back

North House:

Upstairs bathtub removed, replaced by two toilets.

Total cost of all work listed above: $137,411.22

Heavy gauge gutters on Amity, North, Coach, Gund, and Seely - $2,621

Slate roofs on Amity, North, Coach replaced "where needed": $8,300 "Bids were taken on slate vs. shingles, and slates were less expensive."

Footer tiles replaced or repaired where needed at Amity, North, and Coach. “The buildings are old, and over the years tree roots have grown into the footer tiles, drainage was becoming ineffective and there was leakage in basements.”  “Kirby had a real problem.  In order to do the repairs, the old oak tree, the sidewalk around, and the cellar in back would have to come out to get to the footers.  Instead, a suggestion by the soil conservation people was used. aThey installed footer tiles at the bottom of the hill from Hilltop and just above Kirby.  Now the run-off will be caught before it reaches Kirby!  The old oak tree was saved!"  All foundation work: $22,750.

“Of course everyone knows by now that the horses have moved and now grace the trails of Hilaka/Crowell.  They had to have a place to stay so riding rings and pasture were installed at the gas cut.  Money was saved here by using lumber cut from our own trees and the total cost was $1000.  The trees were cut at Bates from living areas where they were considered hazarous.  Trees cut down to clear the area for the new Waken Tonka Unit were also cut into lumber and used to build the shelter.”

Each new tent and fly costs $600, each platform, $300. The shelter, even with our own wood, costs $500.

Rotten siding at Garfield Lodge was replaced with our own wood, windows replaced and repaired - $560.

Parking lots tarred and chipped $5,804

“Things we would in a million years never think of…. like rusted bolts and rotten wood replaced for $200 on the millwheel”  “By now we all know that the swinging bridge is back and so, too, the foot bridge.

“Great new storage cabinets and shelves in all the tent units at Crowell”

Seely Cabin – gas furnace repaces old electric. The electric had cost $75 per troop camp weekend just to heat the cabin.

“Opening the swimming pool each year costs $900.  It must be drained and cleaned with acid: to winterize and close $350.  Not to mention the chemicals used in the pool and in our lakes each season: $2500

Chain link fence repair $3,080 at Crowell/ Hilaka; $750 at Bates.

“Swabbing Kirby gas well runs $500 - $600 per year. "Swabbing Kirby gas well?" said I.  Peg explained that we may be fortunate to have free gas but there are maintenance costs.  In cold months when the pressure drops the lines must be swabbed of oil and water that collects in them.  We have a holding tank for swabbed off junk, and every three to four years it must be emptied.  If the mixture is right and the roads need it, we use it there to cut down on dust.  If not, we try to give it away, and as a last resort, we pay to have it hauled away.

Maintenance costs for combined camps Crowell Hilaka, Maraget Bates, Lejnar & three metropark cabins.

Soundings on all lakes to determine their depths cost $600.  “It was $600 well spent – for now, when dredging is done, we will know what depth to take them to.  It will provide information for the Environmental Protection Agency.  We’ll know how much is washing into our lakes from other places, and last but not least, we can now tell program staff where it’s deep enough for boating and where a land/sea vehicle would be a better bet than a boat.”

Maintence supplies for the past year: $3,500.  Mops, mop buckets, tent ropes, brooms, rakes, latrine brushes, furnace filters, air horns, wasp and ant killers, fire and ash buckets.

I have no idea what the story is on this. Maybe the bathtub was re-purposed as a water trough for the horses? Note the white cylindical cap of the gas well in the background.
(photo by Suzanne Czaplicki)