Ben White Speaks at Oct. 27 CSRC Meeting
Posted on Nov 01, 2016
Ben White, the President of the Lake Chapala Society, spoke to the group about the changes and plans at LCS. They’ve changed the mission statement to focus on improving the quality of life for all thise in ]Lakeside (not just Expats).
Recently they offered five well-received courses in personal enrichment, and this summer’s art camp served 125 children with Javier Zaragoza and Jesus Lope Vega teaching. The INAPAM program distributed 197 cards and LCS Health Day will be Nov. 3, available to everyone. Their Needle Pushers group distributed 140 sweaters to children in Chapala. They’re planning a free movie night on Fridays geared to children (in Spanish).
With a goal to diversify their income stream, their Thrift Store is open from 10 to 3 and doing well. They plan to produce the directory in house this year – they have a graphic designer for it and hope to put it out November 15. Many of the advertisers will offer discounts.
Their new expanded campus will have more of a community focus. 10,000 people retire every day in the US, and we expect a big influx in Lakeside, so the Society needs to accommodate this future demand. After considering several options, the Board decided to have one integrated campus and bring the Wilkes Center classes onto the main campus.
Ben believes they have the potential to double their membership over the next ten years to about 5,000. There’s a lot of competition for space on-campus for meetings, and many requests cannot be accommodated. They want to keep much of the green space, find a better way to display the Neil James memorabilia and the children’s art work. The library is cramped as well. And there is demand for more lectures and diverse discussion groups. They need 7 classrooms (they have 3 now).
The new campus design will be sustainable and maintain the local Mexican design/architecture. Eventually there will be a new entrance on the lake side of the property. They plan to move the café to the new property, and when they build a Sala Grande it will be able to accommodate 150 people.
There will be four or five phases of the building project including two new buildings, and they are currently reviewing architectural proposals and costs. Initial costs are projected at over $2M US, and fundraising programs are being examined now.