Cooper Lodge at Camp Lakota topping out ceremony

DEFIANCE — Construction is proceeding on the new Cooper Lodge, with Keith Hubbard Dining Hall at Camp Lakota. With the placement of the last truss, the 2024 Camp Lakota Summer Camp Staff was on hand to lash a pine sapling to the last truss for a topping-out ceremony. A topping-out ceremony is a construction tradition that has been occurring in some fashion for centuries as a celebration of a project milestone. Traditionally, this ceremony occurs when the final structural beam is raised into place, completing the building's frame. The new Lodge will replace Meecheway Lodge as the camp's dining hall. It will serve as the focal point for campers and participants attending events and programs at Camp Lakota. This lodge has been designed with multipurpose functionality in mind. In addition to serving meals to campers, meeting spaces in the lodge are large enough to host volunteer and youth training education, merit badge courses, Scouting-related meetings/receptions, and year-round use for corporate meetings and family gatherings. This new lodge will enable the council to increase the number of events related to STEM, public safety skills, leadership, conservation, and workforce development for the community hosted at Camp Lakota. The front of the new Cooper Lodge will overlook the Armed Forces Memorial Prade Field. Cooper Lodge is being built by Mel Lanzer from Napoleon and was designed by RCM Architects from Findlay. The plan is to have Cooper Lodge ready for use for the 2025 summer season, which will be the 84th summer for Camp Lakota. There are still naming right opportunities available for this project, including purchasing a brick paver. For more information about Cooper Lodge and Camp Lakota, please call the council service center at (419) 422-4356 or visit www.blackswampBSA.org.