Ottawa's construction industry is banding together to help save a piece of the city's history: the historic hall at BGC Ottawa's Camp Smitty.
A Century of Memories
For more than a hundred years, Camp Smitty has been a cornerstone of childhood in Ottawa. It's the kind of place where kids and youth from across the city have built friendships, gained confidence, and created memories that last a lifetime — the sort of formative summer experience that generations of Ottawa families have passed down to their own children.
That long history is exactly what's now at stake. The camp's historic hall, a building that has anchored decades of programming, is in need of support to ensure it can keep serving the community for years to come. Rather than let the structure fall into disrepair, members of Ottawa's construction sector have organized to lend their skills and resources to the cause.
Why Ottawa's Builders Are Getting Involved
There's something fitting about Ottawa's construction community rallying around this particular cause. Many of the tradespeople and companies now offering their time and expertise grew up in a city where organizations like BGC Ottawa (formerly known as the Boys and Girls Club) played a role in shaping local youth — whether through their own summers at camp or through family members who benefited from the programming.
BGC Ottawa has long positioned Camp Smitty as more than just a summer destination. It's described as a place where kids build the kind of friendships and confidence that stick with them well beyond childhood. Preserving the historic hall means preserving the physical space where so much of that happened — and continuing to make it available to the next generation of Ottawa kids.
What It Means for the Community
For Ottawa families, the push to save Camp Smitty's hall is a reminder of how much local nonprofit infrastructure depends on community goodwill to survive. Historic buildings like this one require ongoing maintenance and investment, and it often takes a coordinated effort — in this case, from an entire industry — to keep them standing.
The involvement of the construction community also signals the kind of practical, hands-on support that can make a real difference for a local charity. Rather than just fundraising dollars, the effort brings the actual expertise needed to restore and maintain an aging structure, which can be just as valuable for an organization like BGC Ottawa.
As the campaign to save the historic hall continues, it stands as an example of how different corners of the Ottawa community — from tradespeople to camp alumni to current families — can come together to protect something that matters to the city's collective story.
Source: Ottawa Business Journal
