We are getting closer and closer to welcoming our Power To Be community to a place they can truly call home—our gateway to nature at Prospect Lake. We are ever grateful to the Steele family for their heartfelt generosity, leasing their beautiful and expansive land to us for just one dollar a year for 25 years! With 80 acres of wilderness in which to learn and play, we saw an opportunity to grow our impact and spread our passion. We wanted a place for our organization to put down roots and become an anchor within the community. With this new site, we can give back by creating a space where our community can come together to learn, innovate and inspire others to explore the outdoors. After many years of planning, hard work, and collaboration we are almost ready to open the doors to our new home.
After collaborating with some of our amazing partners, we created plans for this new facility. With inspiration from the old clubhouse, we envisioned a brand-new building for our staff, volunteers and participants to enjoy. We are committed to providing a welcoming and accepting space, where everyone can come as they are and explore what nature can do for them. This new home is a place that fosters friendship and respect; and perhaps most importantly, it’s a place where people are safe to try new things and be themselves.
As an important part of creating an inclusive facility, we integrated elements to respect gender inclusivity, stimuli sensitivities and limited mobilities. We implemented limited doors and wider corridors to allow access to people of all mobilities and the washrooms are designed to be inclusive to people of all gender identities. The gear barn was revamped so that participants can explore our stock of outdoor gear and pick out what they need for their excursion. We also created an adjacent programming space where gear can be laid out and packs organized by participants to further their sense of independence.
Sustainability and creating a building that could naturally co-exist with its wild surroundings were guiding pillars for the project. With the help of our architect, we implemented elements of the Living Building Challenge to our new build, being as environmentally responsible as possible. We designed the space to generate a positive net energy output, chose non-harmful, non-toxic materials, and integrated plants and other biophilic elements indoors.
We are also grateful to Christine Lintott, Campbell Construction Ltd., our donors, partners, the Steele Family, our staff, volunteers and participants, that all made this project possible. We can’t wait for everyone to come together in this new collaborative, safe space to share our passions. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for exciting updates!