Bond that Binds Us Capital Campaign

Clearwater’s capital improvement planning began in 2018 when the board engaged the community, campers, and staff to determine what was needed to optimize the camper experience. Many of Clearwater’s facilities were originally built in 1912 as the Pottawattamie Lodge to accommodate Camp Minocqua families and became Clearwater’s camp buildings in 1938. Clearwater’s community has been generous in ensuring proper maintenance of these buildings and grounds over time. However, we must now execute an ambitious, comprehensive effort to update and upgrade so that we can:

• ensure safety while meeting the needs of today’s campers
• remain faithful to camp’s beauty, history, and traditions
• continue to fulfill Clearwater’s mission and vision

An expert architect, Blake Theisen of Parkitecture + Planning, guided the board in envisioning the possibilities for Clearwater’s future. After a thorough planning process and additional input from the community, Clearwater’s board adopted the master site plan in spring 2022. Clearwater’s vision for the future:

We aim to fund and complete construction on all the projects in the site plan by camp’s 95^th Reunion in 2028. The plan’s total budget is approximately $6 million; and we will complete each “portage” of this journey as the funding is secured. We officially launched our capital campaign, The Bond that Binds Us: Building Clearwater’s Future in late February 2024. We are inviting everyone in the Clearwater community to make a gift to achieve the full $6 million goal that is outlined in the following portages below:

Portage #1 Projects 

$2.4 Million secured! Completed and enjoyed by campers in summer 2024!

Initial fundraising efforts began in the fall of 2022 by meeting with those who could expedite an initial round of priority capital projects with their significant personal donations. These donors provided $2.4 million for the first “portage” and construction was completed on the following projects during the off-season before Clearwater’s Opening Day in 2024. You can read more about this portage in our July Site Plan Sparks.

• Mainstay, the new Welcome Center, is a beautiful new focus when you drive into camp. It houses a welcome center office, the camp store, nurses’ quarters, exam rooms, and an infirmary. A large new storm shelter on the lower level doubles as a great space for rainy-day activities
• Backstay, our new maintenance facilities near the riding ring.
• Increased green space on the waterfront and behind the swamp for expanded programming.
• New multi-purpose sports courts for tennis, pickleball, and basketball.

Portage #2: Staff Housing 

$900,000 required for 4 new cabins

2 new cabins will be built in Winter 2024 at the cost of approximately $450,000

While our traditional college-aged counselors remain an important key to our success, we would like to expand the depth of our summer team which requires additional staff housing. Our current staff housing options are more communal and do not allow staff members to bring a partner or child to camp with them. If we could offer a more family-friendly option, we know of multiple alumni who would happily return to work at camp. This change would allow us to fill very important leadership positions which require more maturity and life experience than our younger staff members can offer, thus elevating the camp experience for everyone. Additionally, having more adults at camp creates a more balanced staff culture and provides more opportunities for mentorship and guidance for our younger generations of counselors, which is always a need.

Each of these new cabins will cost approximately $200,000 to design and build. Approximately $50,000 will be required for site preparation (clearing, grading, septic system install, etc.) and furnishing these cabins.

An anonymous donor has challenged the Clearwater community to match their gift of $150,000 by the end of 2024. This funding gives us a special opportunity to build two initial staff cabins that could be ready for summer 2025!

Future Portages

approximately $2.7 Million required

(timing to be determined by meeting funding goals and ability to complete construction around the camp season and harsh winters of the Northwoods)

• Expanding the Mains’l (the dining hall) so that campers and staff have more room to comfortably eat, enjoy one another’s company, and continue traditional after-meal singing! This will include adding a wrap-around porch and additional mainland bathrooms.
• Re-building and expanding the early 1900’s kitchen to modern standards, as well as to ensure safety and longevity as the wear and tear of so many years has taken a toll.
• Shoring up the area between Mains’l and the Deck, creating new activity space.
• Upgrading the storm shelter and reinforcing the shoreline on the island.
• Expanding program offerings by adding a state-of-the-art ropes course and a wetlands classroom.

Today’s girls need a place like Clearwater to literally unplug from the world and leave the pressures of school and sports behind so they can flourish and “grow in purposeful maturity” (a favorite quote from Halokwe). Clearwater campers deserve the highest quality programming and that requires high-quality facilities and grounds. We have created a plan to meet the needs and safety of campers now and into the future without compromising the values and traditions of Clearwater, and now we ask you to consider making a significant capital gift toward the Bond that Binds Us Campaign. Your support is pivotal on this journey to strengthen Clearwater’s future.

Halokwe, Sunny, and all of the women who over our history have nurtured Clearwater’s enduring value for girls and young women will be proud that this legacy will continue. With the community’s support, we ensure many more generations will learn, grow, sing, and make lifetime memories and friendships in our lovely Northwoods paradise on Tomahawk Lake.

Every donor is an important partner in our mission to foster confidence, courage, compassion, and community – four points on Clearwater’s compass – by providing a traditional sleepaway camp experience for girls. You help us achieve camp’s vision to provide the Clearwater Camp experience to as many girls as possible –because we know it makes a difference in their lives and they will make a difference in the world. 

To learn more details about the plan, please choose one of the buttons below, or contact our Development and Communications Director, Sheila Ferguson via sheila@clearwatercamp.org or by calling her at 901-830-7896.