Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
- Bolton Summer Camp
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
Via City of Toronto Archives:
Bolton Camp was founded in 1922 by the Neighbourhood Workers' Association to allow low-income children and mothers with small children to have a twelve-day holiday outside of the city during the summer. The site had originally been a fishing camp and was 4.5 km from Bolton, north-west of Toronto. It was affiliated with the Toronto Star Fresh Air Fund, and relied on donors for funding.
Over the years, more land was acquired, providing at its peak 4 separate camps serving 5,500 campers a year. Bolton Camp was rebuilt between 1968 and 1971, becoming the Bolton Outdoor Education and Conference Centre, operating year-round. In 1984, the Ruth Atkinson Hindmarsh Family Life Lodge opened at the camp, providing life education programs for single mothers and family camp for refugee and new immigrant families. In 1991 the Adventure-Based Learning Centre was added.
In later years, lack of funding became a problem. In 1991, Toronto Family Service (as the NWA had been renamed) produced a strategic program review. The organization decided to sell the Bolton property. The camp closed in 1999. In 2000, 279 acres were sold to Toronto Montessori Schools, and ca. 60 to a development company, Camp Villas. Toronto Montessori Schools closed in 2005 for unknown reasons, leaving the buildings and land vacant.
The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) acquired 254 acres of the Bolton property in 2011. It is refurbishing the buildings and developing a plan for the site that will include "innovative programming with unique site activities related to food, recreation, health and wellness, arts and culture, and social innovation."