Project:

Branter House (For Echo Lake)

Branter House - Built in 1965 at George Pringle Memorial Camp in memory of Donald K. Branter. Day 1 - Steel roofing, sheathing, rafters, and insulation is removed. Day 2 - Original cedar T&G is salvaged by removing tons of tar & gravel. Day 3 - 13 volunteers take a break. Original tar & gravel roof has been removed. Day 4 - Main beams are gone. Time to start pulling the walls apart! Ivan is ready. Day 4 - In only a few hours the cedar 'logs' are unstacked and the building disappears. Day 4 - The 3 buildings are totally apart, and materials are strapped in bundles for transport.

Branter House was home to generations of Summer Staff at George Pringle Memorial Camp on Shawnigan Lake, BC from 1965 to 2009.  Paul Bailey spent 7 summers on staff at Camp Pringle as a young adult, and this building was his 'home' for most of those years.  When Paul heard that the building was going to be torn down to make room for a new Summer Staff facility, he offered $1.00 to the Pringle Board to purchase the building so that it could be saved for use at Echo Lake Bible Camp near Fort St. James.  When an agreement was finally reached, Paul & Steve Duncan (Echo Lake Bible Camp's Director) organized a crew of volunteers and headed south to Vancouver Island to tackle the job.

From September 14-19, 2009 a crew of 7 to 13 volunteers worked long hours to salvage the building.  Many thanks to all those who gave of their time (Kris MacDonald, Ivan Omit, Mike Pettie, Mark French, Jared Leon, Leah Granger, Rob Lea, Bill Bailey, Don Ramsfield, James Prette, Rob Priestly and others).  Camp Pringle graciously offered our team free accommodation and access to their kitchen throughout the project.  Progress was rapid, and the entire project was completed in under a week.  Almost everything of value was salvaged from the floor up: 

• Roofing tin
• Windows
• Doors
• Furnace
• Cedar Pan Abode logs
• 2x6 cedar T&G ceiling material

Steve meticulously numbered and colour coded every log in the building to make re-assembly at Echo Lake as easy as possible.  

The Echo Lake Board intends to remove their old (rotting) Summer Staff trailers following the summer of 2010 to make room to build a new Summer Staff facility.  Construction will begin in September 2010 and 'Branter' will be reassembled on a full basement.  Each floor in the new building will be approximately 1,600 square feet, and the completed structure will feature a central lounge area; bedrooms for cooks, kitchen volunteers and support staff; washrooms; and much needed Program storage space.  $20,000 has already been committed to this project.  

If you are interested in helping, contact Steve Duncan at 1-250-996-0227 or call Paul Bailey at 1-250-612-4673.