Major
make-over coming to Camp Fuller
By
Will Collette
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| Before and After |
Charlestown
architect Megan Moynihan and Andrew Baer
at Oyster Works plan
to work their magic with the Greater Providence YMCA’s Camp
Fuller in South Kingstown. Called the Turner Point Development Project, the
plan is to create an environment-friendly (“Sensibly Green”)
facility that will house campers and offer them brand-new educational
opportunities.
As
I looked at the plans in the Oyster Works office on Old Post Road, the most
striking feature is what they plan to do with the old Sailing Center right out
on the tip of the point. They plan to replace the building with a new, more
modern (and green) facility and add a new Marine Biology Center to give one
thousand-plus kids who come to the camp each summer a new learning experience.
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| Sailing Center: View from the West |
In addition to the run-down condition of the existing buildings, Turner
Point is presently overrun with invasive species and is also vulnerable
to damage and erosion from coastal storms.
Oyster Works plans to rip out all
those invasive plants and add new “bioswales” and rain gardens to reduce run-off
into Point Judith Pond. They will also plant native vegetation to stabilize the
shoreline and hopefully prevent further erosion.
To
minimize human impact, they will install permeable paving stone paths and
wooden boardwalks so campers can have access to the shoreline.
Megan
described the project this way:
"We are excited about working with YMCA staff and volunteers to revitalize Turner Point and create facilities that will introduce the next generation of campers to sailing and environmental science.
Our Sensibly Green focus works with natural forces - the sun, prevailing winds and Point Judith Pond - to create buildings that are healthy, low maintenance and energy efficient.
We are working with Kyle Zick Landscape Architecture to develop a restorative landscape plan that protects the sensitive environment through the use of native and noninvasive plants."
In
2011, I described Camp
Fuller as Southern Rhode Island’s dirtiest beach based on the
annual NRDC assessment
of beach sanitation. Water samples were contaminated 17% of the time.
That
has changed since the camp installed a state of the art denitrification system,
and it looks to me like the Turner Point Development will take cleanliness to
an even higher level.
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| The overall design of the project - what's not to like? |
The project has already breezed through South
Kingstown Planning Commission and Zoning Board with high praise. Andrew told me
it only took one meeting with each of these bodies to win approval.
Neighbors
of the Camp came to those meetings, of course, but seemed more concerned about
increased use of the Camp rather than concerns about the project design.
Once
the project is ready to go, construction will take approximately nine months
from demolition work until its ready for its Certification of Occupancy. Then
more generations of kids will have an even nicer Camp Fuller to enjoy during
the summers. At least until climate change-driven sea level rise puts the camp
underwater.
To see several more of the design drawings and details of this project, click here.
