Southern Alberta Bible Camp (SABC) is located on the shores of the Travers Reservoir only a few kilometers from Little Bow Provincial Park. From 1981 to 2010 SABC served up to 1700 campers per season out of its lodge facility which began construction in 1979. Since 1993 SABC’s facilities have been augmented with the development of a Frontier Village, and since 1994 with teepee facilities. During the off-season SABC is booked most weekends with rental groups.

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In 2009, due to inadequate capacity to accommodate demand, Alvin Reinhard Fritz Architect Inc. (ARFAI) was engaged to develop plans for expansion at SABC. ARFAI prepared a preliminary schematic design that demonstrated how SABC could be expanded while keeping the original lodge facility available throughout the construction process. This allowed SABC to maintain its vital ministry as the project was developed and constructed.

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The architectural form and character for the project is based on Prairie Architecture featuring an open heavy timber truss structure finished in rock, cementitious siding and exterior grade heavy timber. This aesthetic solution was selected to provide an appropriate Canadian Prairie Architecture design that is optimal for a prairie lake setting.

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The Executive Director at SABC is Jon Gartly, who, with his wife Melissa, has been actively involved with SABC since 1990. Jon, in conjunction with the building committee for SABC, collaborated closely with ARFAI to provide a comprehensive functional program which ARFAI used to create the project design. This collaboration resulted in a project which is more than any single entity could have conceived. ARFAI is proud to have contributed professional services for this exciting and meaningful project.

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