Lake Whitney Frequently Asked Questions
About Lake Whitney:
Where is Lake Whitney?
Lake Whitney is roughly 25,000 acre lake in the Brazos River Basin owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Located about 60 miles south of Fort Worth and about 35 miles northwest of Waco, the lake divides Hill County and Bosque County with a bit of shoreline touching Johnson County.
How many acres of land do we have?
The Texas Conference owns 938 acres of land. The conference purchased 468 acres north of FM 2841 in the spring of 2006. An additional 470 acres was purchased south of FM 2841 in the spring of 2007.
How did you find the land?
When then-vice president Ruben Rodriguez stopped at a realty office in Whitney to check for possible lake front property, an enterprising realtor who knew of one 13 acre piece for sale started exploring and found the two adjoining pieces totaling 468 acres. The two adjoining owners were convinced to sell – one through a change in family circumstances – and the other because of the use of the property as a youth camp.
What are the special features of the property?
The property features a mile of shoreline on Lake Whitney as well as large sections of woods and open prairie. As one church member said after visiting, “It’s a camp property!”
I’m concerned about safety – aren’t there some cliffs on the property?
The entire shoreline is substantially above lake level. This actually provides two advantages. One – the property can’t be flooded by the lake because it is above the height of Whitney Dam and two, it will be difficult for unwelcome visitors to access the property from the lake.
Appropriate steps will be taken to secure all cliffs areas in an asthetically pleasing yet functional way.
About the Budget:
Wow, $26.2 million is a lot of money! Should we be spending that much?
In the past four constituency sessions, the members of the conference have repeatedly expressed their desire to see first class development of the Ranch with high quality buildings and facilities. That means being willing to spend the money necessary to achieve that goal. However, both the members and the leadership of the conference have made a commitment to only spend as we have money in hand and not go into debt. $26.2 million is a large number, but with 43,000 church members in the Texas Conference, it’s also a number that is achievable!
How did you develop the budget?
Our experienced construction manager, Mark Hansen, consulted with experts, secured bids and priced materials based on the architectural designs of the proposed buildings. Until we begin construction on some of these buildings, we won’t have exact costs. But we are creating estimates using the most reliable sources we have. These costs are in today’s dollars and will ultimately vary based on inflation and other market variables.
Are there areas where we can cut costs?
In order to create a high quality facility, it would be difficult to cut costs in the actual construction. The main area to cut costs would be to reassess the focus of the project and not build as many buildings and facilities as initially voted in the master plan.
About the Capital Campaign:
Will churches be assessed an amount they have to contribute to the project?
No. Some churches may choose to aid the fundraising campaign by committing a certain amount to the project, but all fundraising will be done on a volunteer basis.
About the Summer Camp:
When is summer camp going to start at Lake Whitney Ranch?
We hope to be able to start summer camp at Lake Whitney Ranch in 2013.
What will we have at summer camp?
The master plan calls for 20 cabins (each can hold 16 campers at max capacity), a headquarters cabin, a gymnasium, an outdoor pool, a welcome center, a nature center and a dining hall. However, it is unlikely that all the buildings will be finished in time for a 2011 opening date. Our goal is to have 10 cabins, the gymnasium and pool complex and a temporary dining hall in one of the club ministries pavilions that will service 300 people at a time by the summer of 2011.
About the Club Ministries area:
How many campers will the club ministries area accommodate?
The club ministry is designed to accommodate up to 5000 campers at one time with six pavilions. Each pavilion provides a sheltered area for up to 300, plus restroom and shower facilities. The camping area is laid out for tents but will also have water and electric hookups for RVs.
About the RV area:
How many RV hookups will be on the property?
An RV park will provide full water, 50 amp electric and sewer hook-ups for 40 RVs. This area will also have a laundry facility. An additional 250-300 hookups with water and electric will be available in the general camping area near the pavilions.