this week...
This is an exciting time – we’ve begun the historic expansion of Herzl Camp! Thanks to our generous friends, we’ve reached the halfway mark in fundraising and construction. Your generosity allowed us to order 3 more cabins to be completed this winter!
We are in the midst of building $4 million of our $8 million project. So what does $4 million buy us? 15 cabins, 1 showerhouse/bathroom, an expanded and renovated Mercaz (outdoor synagogue), and an accessible entrance to the waterfront. Less flashy that all that but just as important, it also buys us the rough electrical, rough plumbing, sewage systems, and other site work for the rest of the project (scheduled to be built in Winter 2010-11).
We started in September when we demolished Cabins 2-11, 15, 16 and 17. In October, we completed foundations for New Cabins 1-7 and New Cabins 21-25. We also laid the foundations for Cabins 8-13.
In November, the cabin walls began arriving from their off-site manufacturer and we began putting them up for 12 of the cabins.
In October and November, we worked on the George Kaplan Mercaz expansion and renovation. The footings and understructure as well as parts of the Bema decking were rebuilt in October. A drainage system is being created and then the ampitheatre will be re-graded to allow disabled access to the Bema and new benches will be installed. When complete, the Mercaz will seat 600 (currently we can seat 350).
By December, we raised enough in donations and pledges to allow us to order 3 of the 6 additional cabin foundations to be completed this winter. This extra space allows us to get 36 kids off our waiting list and into camp this summer. Todah Rabah!
Check out the photo slideshow below and stayed tuned for new pictures and updates on our progress!
To watch a video of the construction progress, click here:
