UBarU Camp
and Retreat Center is a private 501(c)(3) nonprofit facility located on 142
acres in the scenic Texas Hill Country some 90 miles from San Antonio and 15
miles west of Kerrville. The mission of UBarU is “to provide a welcoming,
peaceful place to gather for spiritual, educational and recreational purposes
in harmony with our UU Principles and the Land.”
We are
thrilled to have been identified by the Unitarian Universalist Association’s
Southern Region Chalice Lighters to benefit from a Call to donors to help fund
the UBarU ADA Accessibility Improvements Project.
The ADA Accessibility Project
With a
fund-raising effort exceeding $600,000, UBarU expanded its ADA accessible
facilities with the construction of the Rev. Dwight and Marie Brown Center (DMB
Center), completed in 2015. This lodging facility consists of two buildings
with bunk-style housing and eight fully accessible family suites along with
accompanying bathrooms and showers, an accessible parking pad with a pathway to
the DMB Center and thence to the Meeting House.
We have expanded ADA accessibility by tying the larger existing parking lot to the new
walkway between the DMB Center and the Meeting House and accessing the Campfire
Circle.
Donor
support was absolutely essential in completing this project. We have used
private appeals and Faithify.org to fund projects in the past and will use
these venues to complement funding for this ADA Accessibility Improvements project.
We hold a long term goal of expanding accessibility to each of our facilities as
well as contemplative and recreational venues on the property with each new
investment we make. With this project, we have targeted and limited our request
to focus on the Meeting House and the Campfire Circle as the daytime and
evening centers of social, instructional and contemplative activities.
Continuing
the Progress
The goal of
this project is to continue to expand ADA accessibility to the most prominent,
most used, and most enjoyed facilities on the site. The project has expanded accessibility by
funding the construction of two ADA accessible parking spaces immediately in
front of the Meeting House, establish an ADA accessible paved, concrete walkway
from the parking area to the sitting porch of the MH in one direction and to
the evening’s most popular attraction, the Campfire Circle in the other.
The Meeting
House is the central focus of dining, instruction and indoor recreational
activities of all types and for all ages. The Campfire Circle seats upwards of
four dozen persons and is the focus of evening activities of fellowship,
reflection, story-telling and star-gazing.
Funding from
the Chalice Lighter Call was essential in expanding ADA accessibility to
persons of limited mobility to the most prominent and rewarding locations on
the property.
Elements of the project
The project
consists of, but is not limited to the following list of specific ADA
accessibility-focused infrastructure investments.
a) Construction of two concrete-pad,
handicap accessible parking spaces in the parking area immediately in front of
the Meeting House.
b) Construction of a concrete sidewalk
connecting the ADA parking spaces (a) above and the parking area to the front
steps of the Meeting House.
c) Construction of a concrete sidewalk
crossing the newly-constructed sidewalk in (b) above, to the Meeting House and
providing a new sidewalk and accessible ramp to the walkway currently
connecting the DMB Center and the Meeting House.
d) Construction of a concrete sidewalk
intersecting the newly-constructed sidewalk to the Meeting House in the same
location as (c) above and proceeding to the Campfire Circle.
e) Construction of a concrete pad at the
Campfire Circle to accommodate two wheelchairs, and adjacent to companion bench
seating, in-line with existing seating in the circle.
These are
detailed in the Accessibility Improvements site plan drawings generously
provided by Environmental Disciplines Inc., a Corpus Christi based
architectural design firm. UBarU’s website (UBarU.org) hosts this link to allow
aspiring contributors to access the Site Plan, Cost Estimate and an Aerial
Drone Overview of the project location.
UBarU Camp
and Retreat Center is owned and managed by the Unitarian Universalist Friends
Retreat Foundation (UUFRF), whose sole purpose is the care of UBarU. UUFRF trustees are members of Unitarian Universalist
(UU) congregations in Texas, currently representing Austin, Corpus
Christi, Dallas, Kerrville, Plano and San Antonio.

