Girls Club Building

   The girls who attended the Girls Club program did not originally have a building to call their own. Prior to 1902 they used various buildings in Chautauqua. In 1900, Miss Bainbridge, the director of the Girls Club, saw a need for a headquarters as the enrollment had grown and could no longer stay in it's temporary location at the CLSC building. She and Ruth Carlisle set out to construct a building, which was constructed in 1902 after the financial help of N.F. Clark. The original cost: $6,000.
   Each part of the building has served many uses over the years. The main room currently serves as the assembly area at 9:00 and 2:00 for groups 1-4 (boys and girls). It is also used by the camp's music program. The large room is an ideal space to present special programs throughout the summer for the campers (such as a folksinger, magician, music ensemble, etc). Over the years this main room has been used as a meeting place, classrooms, for dancing or singing, and to play games. Many former Clubbers remember the rainy days spent here watching movies. (This is no longer the practice on rainy days.) In 1938 the large porches were screened in. These porches have served, and continue to serve as, places for groups to gather. In the back of the building, smaller rooms have been used as places to play games, hold classes, do arts and crafts, as a small apartment, and numerous other uses. Currently, the back room houses the camp's nature program. A small apartment is located on the first floor for an administrative staff member. The upper floor is used for female staff housing. The basement was used for many years, but then went unused as it fell into disrepair.
   The building underwent a full renovation in 1999, bringing new life to all areas of the building, including a large area in the basement for groups to use.