Flathead Lutheran camp dedicates wheelchair-accessible cabin complex

Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp has opened the doors to its newest facility — a wheelchair-accessible complex that includes two cabins and a community room overlooking Flathead Lake.

Construction on the 2,030-square-foot Lakeview Cabin Complex began in June 2018 and finished just in time for the Oct. 12 ceremony at the camp, located at 550 Lutheran Camp Road south of Lakeside.

The complex, constructed by Kalispell-based J. Martin Builders, was built in accordance to the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and encompasses two cabins that sleep eight, bathrooms, shower facilities and a meeting room that accommodates up to 35 people, according to Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp Executive Director Margie Fiedler. A wheelchair-accessible pathway from the complex leads to the dining hall.

The project cost was $671,000 and was funded through donations and grants, she said.

“The camp has been working for years to make the facility more accessible to those with mobility issues,” Fiedler said.

The inspiration behind the project was longtime camper Jason Armstrong of Missoula, who spent 10 summers at the camp and uses a wheelchair.

Armstrong, now a freshman at Missoula College, returned to camp once again as the keynote speaker for the dedication ceremony.

As a youth, Armstrong experienced firsthand the challenges of getting around camp independently and said he needed assistance from his peers and counselors to get up and down the stairs of his cabin, for example.

Fiedler said he also posed the question, “When will more people like me be able to come to this amazing camp?”

“I noticed in my beginning years there that I was the only disabled kid there,” Armstrong said, and, although he met a lot of friendly people, “I noticed that I was kind of lonely without people knowing what my experience was and I wanted somebody who knew what I was going through.”

Yet the friendships he forged and the joy he experienced kept him coming back and he planted the dream of an accessible camp.

“In my vision, camp was supposed to be for all people, disabilities or not,” Armstrong said. “I think I helped open the other side of that bridge.”

Seeing the Lakeview Cabin Complex come to fruition has meant a lot to Armstrong.

“It means disabled campers are going to have a lot more experience knowing who God is and they are going to be amongst kids who really care about them,” Armstrong said. “For the normal campers who don’t have disabilities, it’s going to be new to them, too, because maybe they haven’t been around disabled campers before.”

He said the Lakeview Cabin Complex exceeded his expectations.

“It was better than I ever imagined it would be,” Armstrong said.

His hope is that the work continues to improve wheelchair accessibility at the camp, and to all camps.

“My work is far from done. I want everybody to be able to go to camp, disability or not, big or small, everybody should be able to be there,” Armstrong said.

For more information visit https://flbc.net/ or call (406) 752-6602 or (406) 752-6602.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.