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Thursday, May 22, 2014

Oyster Works takes on a new green project

Major make-over coming to Camp Fuller
By Will Collette
Before and After
Charlestown architect Megan Moynihan and Andrew Baer at Oyster Works plan to work their magic with the Greater Providence YMCA’s Camp Fuller in South Kingstown. Called the Turner Point Development Project, the plan is to create an environment-friendly (“Sensibly Green”) facility that will house campers and offer them brand-new educational opportunities.

As I looked at the plans in the Oyster Works office on Old Post Road, the most striking feature is what they plan to do with the old Sailing Center right out on the tip of the point. They plan to replace the building with a new, more modern (and green) facility and add a new Marine Biology Center to give one thousand-plus kids who come to the camp each summer a new learning experience.


Sailing Center: View from the West 
In addition to the run-down condition of the existing buildings, Turner Point is presently overrun with invasive species and is also vulnerable to damage and erosion from coastal storms. 

Oyster Works plans to rip out all those invasive plants and add new “bioswales” and rain gardens to reduce run-off into Point Judith Pond. They will also plant native vegetation to stabilize the shoreline and hopefully prevent further erosion.

To minimize human impact, they will install permeable paving stone paths and wooden boardwalks so campers can have access to the shoreline.


Megan described the project this way:
"We are excited about working with YMCA staff and volunteers to revitalize Turner Point and create facilities that will introduce the next generation of campers to sailing and environmental science.  
Our Sensibly Green focus works with natural forces -  the sun, prevailing winds and Point Judith Pond - to create buildings that are healthy, low maintenance and energy efficient.
We are working with Kyle Zick Landscape Architecture to develop a restorative landscape plan that protects the sensitive environment through the use of native and noninvasive plants."
In 2011, I described Camp Fuller as Southern Rhode Island’s dirtiest beach based on the annual NRDC assessment of beach sanitation. Water samples were contaminated 17% of the time.

That has changed since the camp installed a state of the art denitrification system, and it looks to me like the Turner Point Development will take cleanliness to an even higher level.
The overall design of the project - what's not to like?
The project has already breezed through South Kingstown Planning Commission and Zoning Board with high praise. Andrew told me it only took one meeting with each of these bodies to win approval.  

Neighbors of the Camp came to those meetings, of course, but seemed more concerned about increased use of the Camp rather than concerns about the project design.


Once the project is ready to go, construction will take approximately nine months from demolition work until its ready for its Certification of Occupancy. Then more generations of kids will have an even nicer Camp Fuller to enjoy during the summers. At least until climate change-driven sea level rise puts the camp underwater.

To see several more of the design drawings and details of this project, click here.