Four years after the historic Camp Pin Oak Lodge in Lake of the Ozarks State Park burned during an electric storm, the group camping facility is open and more popular than ever.
In addition to rebuilding the dining hall to historic accuracy, the Planning and Development department of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources has refurbished three of the cabins that surround the dining hall and are planning to refurbish two more.
"We are excited to be able to offer this new resource to our guests," said a spokesman for the DNR. "As time passes, we are seeing an increase in the number of users enjoying the dining lodge and group camp."
After the Camp Pin Oak dining hall was destroyed in a middle-of-the-night fire in September 2010, Gov. Jay Nixon worked with staff from State Fair Community College and the Missouri Department of Economic Development to set up a special fund to have the historic building rebuilt.
Students from SFCC, under the supervision of college instructors, rebuilt the dining hall making sure it was restored to be as near a duplicate of the original as possible. The original Camp Pin Oak was one of four group camp facilities that were built in the 1930s as part of President Franklin Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration.
When the dining hall was rebuilt, workers added modern touches to the original plan, including a complete kitchen with refrigeration and freezer units, central heating and air conditioning and modern restrooms.
Last fall, Nixon presided over a grand reopening ceremony of the newly rebuilt facility. As part of the project, DNR personnel and state park workers began refurbishing several of the cabins that are part of the original group camping facility.
Work on three of those cabins is in the final stages and Bill Arnold, director of Lake of the Ozarks State Park, says they will soon be ready to rent.
The cabins have been refurbished inside and out and currently sport new roofs, heating, air conditioning, refinished wide plank floors, bathrooms, handcrafted furniture, microwaves, refrigerators and coffee makers.
Each cabin sleeps several people, with the largest (the old infirmary) now serving as sleeping quarters for at least six overnight campers.
Since its reopening last fall, the camping facility has become more popular than ever with weddings and family reunions added to the various groups that utilize the facility.
"This summer, we have had 16 different groups use Camp Pin Oak," the DNR spokesman said. "Some groups are using the camp just for the weekend while others are staying longer. The longest stay this summer was for six weeks."
Arnold said one group that regularly uses the site for its summer get-together is the Future Farmers of America.
"The FFA meets here every summer," Arnold said. "They were here this year and have already committed to coming next summer."
Arnold said the newly rebuilt dining hall is also becoming a very popular wedding destination, and he believes the newly refurbished cabins will add a lot to the ambiance for brides and grooms.
"The way the cabins are being set up they could serve very well as a place for the wedding party to spend the night," he said. "That way the rehearsal, wedding itself and the reception could all be held in the same location without any of the wedding party ever having to leave the site."
In addition to Camp Pin Oak, Lake of the Ozarks State Park also features three other group camping facilities, including Red Bud, Clover Point and Rising Sun.
Once the refurbishing effort at Camp Pin Oak is completed the DNR also plans to install new floors in the kitchen of the Rising Sun facility and renovate two of the sleeping barracks at Clover Point.
More than 80 structures in Lake of the Ozarks State Park were built by WPA workers during the Great Depression and are on the National Register of Historic Places. Originally a part of the National Park System, the 17,500-acre park was later turned over to the state. It is Missouri largest state park and boasts more than two million visitors per year.
For more information about Camp Pin Oak and Lake of the Ozarks State Park visit www.mostateparks.com.