January 01, 2009
Each summer for eight weeks, more than 1,800 children from Omaha area elementary schools travel to the Hummel Park Day Camp to hike, cook outdoors, learn about nature and participate in a variety of activities. The camp is designed to encourage creative play and imagination in a natural setting.
Editor’s Note: This is the 14th in a continuing series of entries from the first Omaha Catalogue of Urban Design Philanthropy, a compendium of strategic giving opportunities that focus on the city’s natural and built environments. The Omaha Catalogue was published in December 2007 by Omaha by Design and the Omaha Community Foundation. It has attracted donations from Omaha’s philanthropic community at both the foundation and individual level, including a $10,000 gift to the Big Garden and a $25,000 gift to the South 24th Street Tree of Life Project. For more information on how to donate to a project, contact Connie Spellman, director of Omaha by Design, at 402.554.4010 or Sara Boyd, vice president of the Omaha Community Foundation, at 402.342.3458.
In the mind of a child, a tree is a castle, a gully is a moat, and a fallen branch is a scepter that commands the respect of an entire kingdom. Unfortunately, opportunities for unstructured play – the key to conjuring such transformations – are rapidly loosing their place in the hectic schedules of today’s youth.
Each summer for eight weeks, however, more than 1,800 children from Omaha area elementary schools travel to the Hummel Park Day Camp to conjure away. They hike, cook outdoors, learn about nature and participate in a variety of activities. Electronic gadgets must be checked at the door, as the camp is designed to encourage creative play and imagination in a natural setting.
Located on the northern edge of the city, the 202-acre Hummel Park rises out of the Missouri River Valley. Its wooded area remains habitat for wildlife that flourished there before the first settlers arrived. Although the day camp’s rustic atmosphere is the perfect place for a child to experience the wonders of the great outdoors, its facilities – a pair of aging WPA structures – are failing fast.
The Ponca Hills Preservation Association and the City of Omaha’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Public Property are partnering to create a unique educational experience for the city’s youth at Hummel Park. Plans call for the creation of a nature center that respects the history of this environmental treasure. It will feature an aviary, a nature study room and a series of porches that connect users with the camp’s natural setting.
Campers who exit the park gates leave with more than memories. They take with them the ability to jumpstart their imaginations in the backyards and green spaces of their own neighborhoods.
The total estimated cost of the project is $600,000, including construction of the center, site improvements, and architectural and engineering fees. Naming rights are available.