Creating a Space for Change at Trout Lake Camps
Trout Lake Camps in Pine River, MN has been offering outdoor ministry to the surrounding area since 1947. With several years of exponential growth in their ministries, they expanded the traditional camps offered to kids and added family camps, college courses, and men’s and women’s retreats. This growth gave Trout Lake the freedom to dream big about the future of their camps and programming.
Thinking Bigger about Camp
One of these big dreams for Trout was to create a whimsical, creative, and even magical environment for their young campers. Station 19 had a long-time friendship and partnership with Trout Lake, helping them plan for growth, remodel old spaces, design new experiences for dining and lodging, and create brand new environments where people could grow in their faith. So when they asked Station 19 to dream together about their Wild Woods Camp facilities, it was another clear opportunity to create something adventurous, inviting, profoundly meaningful, and refreshingly fun.
Camp ministry has a unique opportunity to cultivate faith in the lives of children by offering fun and safe spaces which is the key to a lasting ministry model. And so, with space to build from the ground up, the possibility for creativity was just about limitless. Executive Director John Wick dreamed of a week-long summer program where students could experience God in a new and different way. Where they could be whisked away by fun and whimsy while diving deeper into their faith. The goal was to equip them to bring that same joy and playfulness back to their communities.
Listen. Then Dream. Then Design. Then Build.
Station 19’s philosophy of “Listen First” produced an opportunity to make the ordinary extraordinary. They saw the vision of the Trout Lake staff to create an immersive, interactive camp for students in grades 1-3. From that, Station 19 developed and presented options that brought out that vision in fun ways that created a “wow factor” with the Wild West themed town. These designs would inspire a sense of wonder in children and adults alike.
As Trout Lake sought out more cabin space to accommodate even more campers, they requested design ideas for backyard-style and fishing house-style cabins. Taking on Trout Lake’s spirit of fun, Station 19 invited their staff to participate in designing their interpretation of the requested cabins. The results were well received by Trout Lake, who loved the 3 presented concepts and decided to use them all. In the end, Station 19 designed 4 backyard treehouse cabins and 4 New England-style fish house cabins that incorporated a whimsical and fun approach to their construction.
Creating Space for Change
By setting the stage through Strategic Master Planning and strengthening and updating existing structures, doors were opened up for Station 19 Architects to help Trout Lake see their dream for a magical, whimsical world to come to life. These buildings now offer a retreat for younger campers to grow in their faith and make it their own through imaginative play in God’s creation.
