Monday, December 10, 2007

history continued

Some things that are included in this new property.

A main lodge with kitchen area.
17 cabins
8 Ramada's
3 bathhouses
A lot of pine trees

On a meeting held January 2006 Chet Lodge was approached and agreed to permit the congregation to sell his land and purchase the alternate property. In agreeing to this Chet had several wishes, among them were that:

1. Funds received from the sale of the land be used to purchase and develop a camp to support youth work for the benefit of the whole Zion.

2. The camp property acquired be named Kamp Kipa in memory of his wife Kirsti.

The mission statement was finalized and approved.
Primary discussion at this meeting was to develop framework for a master plan.

The asking price for the new camp land was $1.5M.
There was $125,000.00 in the fund. Many things were needed: congregational approval, camp inspections for environmental suitability, zoning approval, feasibility of use, etc.

It was a strong and rising real estate market, and the owner was looking for a commitment in order to take the property off the market. In all the years of searching, never had a camp that so closely answered the needs become available. It seemed that if at all possible, this camp should be acquired, however the challenges seemed insurmountable. It became evident that when God blesses, the pieces fall into place and things happen as they are meant.

In a very short time, all the inspections were completed, bank financing was promised (with the LLC co-signing the note), zoning requirements were met and the local congregations approved and recommended an offer be made for $950,000. The offer was accepted with the seller desiring a short close. Funds became available immediately! There were donations, loans from Congregations, individual members and a bank loan obtained. It seems a miracle that all this could happen in such a short time.

The new camp land purchase was finalized on February 16th 2006.