CFA Buildings Part 1

This is part one of a two part blog series. 

So I have a little history lesson today about CFA and its buildings. I just got done reading this article from ACA and it got me thinking about CFA. What were the buildings used for before and the history behind them. So take a look at the pictures and the history below them.

The Red Huts

Built in the early 1930s, there were actually 10 originally and they were white. Since 4 have been removed to make room for Strong Hall and their color has changed from white to red. They used to be boy cabins, but now are used for LIT housing and staff housing during the summer. The insides were recently renovated with new flooring and new walls.

The Concrete Slab

Mainly used for parking now, the concrete slab used to be a pavilion called the "Arrowplex" and had basketball courts and a place to go when it was rainy. It was taken down when Strong Hall was built.

 The Red Stone House

No one really knows when this house was built but it was the only building on the property when the land was purchased by the YMCA in 1927. It has served camp well over the years, being the camp office, staff lounge, nurses station and currently professional staff housing.

Strong Hall

The biggest building on camp has been at camp since 1998 or 2002 (Bill can't make up his mind). It currently has all the professional staff offices, staff workout room, meeting rooms, indoor gym and indoor climbing walls. It is one of the main buildings used when it is rainy or to meet for retreats. It also houses our radio station (you see the antenna on the left side of the roof). 

The Retreat Center or RC

It used to be the called the EEC (Environmental Education Center) when it was first built in the mid 1990s. Now it is used as a meeting place in the summer and during retreat season. It also was staff housing for 4 years when Bill and Allison arrived at CFA.

Girl Cabins

These actually didn't exist until the early 1970s. There were platform tents (wooden frames with concrete floor with a plastic roof and thick cloth walls) in place before then. They were built when CFA became Co-Ed in 1973 (did you know that is when it became Camp Flaming Arrow, it was called San Antonio YMCA Camp for Boys up until then). 

Boy Cabins

These came to camp during the 1980s. Boys stayed in the Red Huts until these were built. So it was boys on one side of the ravine and girls on the other until the 80s.

The Igloo

The Igloo (along with two other building that will be in part 2) was a bath house during the 1960s. Back then it didn't have a roof and was an open air shower house. Counselors had to hold flash lights for campers so they could see while they showered (I promise this does not happen anymore). Now it is used as a cabin during the summer ranging from LITs to rookie campers. It is only cabin at CFA with three sinks (all in different rooms) and two restrooms. It also only holds 10 people instead of 12 like the rest of the cabins.