Lilly Endowment gives $1.75M for renovations at Bradford Woods’ Camp Riley

Don’t expect Bradford Woods to look the same after it gets a $1.75 million makeover over the next two years.

IU announced July 17 that the Lilly Endowment awarded a $1.75 million grant to the Riley Children’s Foundation to benefit Camp Riley at IU’s Bradford Woods, located near Martinsville. The grant will go toward repairing facilities and creating six green cabins and an indoor arena for horse riding, said Bradford Woods Executive Director John Koenig.

For one or two weeks each summer, Camp Riley hosts about 240 children who have physical disabilities, said Jason Mueller, Riley Children’s Foundation communications manager. The renovations will begin this fall and take about two years to complete, Koenig said. Koenig, who has been director for more than two years, said the makeover is long overdue for the facility. He also estimated the land needs more than $3.5 million in repairs – double the amount of the Lilly grant.

“This is a little less than half of what we’ll need,” Koenig said.

The camp has six different sessions each summer for children who are physically disabled, Mueller said.

“It puts them in a position where they can accomplish things here that they might be able to do on an everyday basis,” he said.

He added that the improvements will allow the camp to grow “regardless of the weather.”

Camp Riley and Bradford Woods, who have been partners for 50 years, co-wrote the proposal for the grant. But Camp Riley won’t be the only camp at Bradford Woods benefiting from the renovations, Koenig said. Everyone from campers from the Little Red Door Cancer Agency in Indianapolis to IU students taking courses at Bradford Woods will reap the benefits of the renovations. Each year, 19,000 people visit the 2,500-acre facility, he said.

The money will be used to create a Therapeutic Riding Center, which will include an indoor arena, Koenig said. New cabins constructed from recycled materials will replace current facilities.