Camp Tracy in Oakland received over 2 million in funds for renovation

OAKLAND, Maine (WABI) - Camp Tracy in Oakland is adding a dining and recreation facility among a host of renovations, thanks to the 1.5 million dollar donation from the Harold Alfond foundation and a $500,000 donation from the Hawkes Family.

“We had our annual appeal where the announcement was made a couple of weeks ago and seeing the renderings of the building,” Abbie Charrier, director of camp with the Alfond Youth & Community Center said.

Sitting on a 32 Arce property, the camp has been a combination of the Waterville Boys and girls club and the YMCA since 1990 and has been around for more than 50 years, fulfilling the mission of the three men who found it decades ago. It offers various programs and activities such as canoeing, sports camps, rock climbing and other weekly residential camps.

“As we continue to grow the programs, we need to have space to be able to bring even more campers we actually just finished our building the sixth cabin which is part of this this phase of development,” said Patrick Guerette, Chief Operating Officer for the center.

With new programs comes the need for a bigger dinning facility. Charrier says it is a big piece of fostering the camping community.

“We could sleep over 120 people, but we can only feed 50 at a time because of our dining space. So this is really essential to be able to bring people together and offer a cohesive schedule that kids can really enjoy,” she said.

The new facility will seat more than double its current capacity of 50. Charrier says she looks forward to the joy it will bring the kids.

“Seeing the kids get to enjoy that and seeing their faces light up and see that we put value behind their experience by building them beautiful things is it’s just going to be an experience on its own,” she said.